I remember...

I remember that day.
An ordinary Tuesday in September eight years ago.
A day that began the same as any other day.
A beautiful clear day in Indiana.


I remember going to work.
The same routine as any other day,
The pleasantries exchanged with coworkers.
Then everything changed.


I remember the call.
My husband heard that a plane hit the World Trade Center in New York.
Was this a sick joke? Was it a small plane with engine trouble?
This can't be real.


I remember turning on the radio
In time to hear that a second plane hit the other tower.
It wasn't a joke, it wasn't a small plane.
And it wasn't a coincidence.


I remember the silence.
Everyone in the office listening for news, tearful, anxious.
Why was this happening? Who would do this?
Then the towers fell.


I remember the third plane.
It hit the Pentagon. This is a deliberate attack.
All air traffic was stopped. There was another plane unaccounted for.
Little did we know.


I remember the announcement:
The office was closing. Go home and be with your loved ones.
No one could work any more that day.
We left in tears.


I remember the drive home.
Driving through tears. The eerie silence on a clear day.
Listening to the news that the fourth plane crashed in a field.
This was real.


I remember the images.
The non-stop coverage on TV. Seeing the planes hit the buildings.
Seeing the faces of the wounded in New York, zombie-like, covered in ash.
Helpless, fearful, lost.


I remember the emotions.
We were horrified, sickened, afraid, but we couldn't look away.
We watched, we cried, we heard the accounts of the day.
So many people died.


I remember the heroes.
The firemen and policemen who ran into the buildings when everyone else was running out.
The passengers of flight 93 who fought back and sacrificed their lives so no one else would die.
The words "Let's roll".


I remember the pride.
The people of this country and of the world pulling together, looking for survivors, for hope.
The patriotism, the tears during the national anthem. They did not defeat us.
We will survive.


I remember that day.
That clear blue September day that started like any other day,
But ended with the world forever changed. I remember that day...
And I will never forget.