I very rarely over sleep. Sure occasionally I hit the snooze 1 or 2 times too many but to over sleep for 30 minutes to an hour is a very rare for me. Out of the handful of times this has happened one will always stick in my mind. I was still living in Clarksville at the time and my kids were in elementary school. I woke up and noticed it was an hour past time for me to get up. I had just enough time to get ready for work and get the kids ready for school so that I could drop them off late. That morning I did not turn on the news as was my daily habbit. I am a weather fanatic and my morning is not complete if I do not know what the day will bring as far as temperatures and wether or not I will need the umbrella that I will probably leave in the car anyway.
On this particular morning once we were dressed and ready to go I bypassed another morning habbit, the radio in my car. I usually turned it off on the way home at night so my kids would have my attention when they were telling me about my day. It took about 10 minutes to get the kids to school and then another 10 to sign them in and get on my way. After a couple of miles I turned on the radio to keep me company during my long drive to work. That's when my life changed. As I turned on the radio the news was on and the reporters sounded frantic. They were talking about things that were happening in New York and Washington. I was not sure what I was hearing at first or maybe it was that I just didn't want to know what I hearing. A few minutes later came the words that shook me harder than anything has before or since in my life, "The north tower of the World Trade Center is collapsing." I wanted to turn my car around and go get my kids and go home. I did not want to be away from the in a world that was suddenly so scary and so uncertain. It took all of the will power I possesed to keep my car pointing toward my job and not back home. The horror increased as the morning went on. When I got to work I remember people were standing outside crying. Especially friends whose kids were in the military. We were all scared and confused and not sure what to do. When I got inside all of us in our office got together and said a prayer. It was not a busy day because somehow contacting a call center when the world has gone mad is not a high priority. Somehow we all made it through that day and made it home. I know it is a day no one will ever forget.
Ten years later, our world while not drastically different is not the same as it was before that fateful day in 2001. We now know that things we always thought would only affect middle eastern countries can happen to us as well. I often think back to that morning and wonder what would have happened if I would have got up on time that morning. I would have been watching the news almost from the beginning. Would I have stayed home keeping my children with me out of the fear caused by the situation. I think I may have. I know that may not have been the best way to handle it but it was not a day for being rational. I wish I were a much better writer and could give you something eloquent that would tug at your heart and have you reaching for the tissues. But this humble entry is what I have to offer. I would like to hear from others about their thoughts and memories from that day. A day that I hope we will always remember. I hope we will always remember to pray for the families who lost loved ones that day and for our country that lost the feeling of, "that doesn't happen here" on that day.
Mary
