I remember very clearly where I was the day terror shook the world. My good friend Catherine Giambattista had asked me to babysit her daughter while she went to the doctor. I had just turned on the TV to find something for the kids to watch and I was distracted by a news update about a plane that had crashed into one of the twin towers in NYC. As I watched the news update, all cameras glued to the burning building, I saw another plane enter the frame and crash into the other tower. Horrified, I ran to my computer and sent an IM to Don at work. "Two planes have crashed into the World Trade Center towers!!"
I couldn't believe what I had seen! It was incredible. But it didn't end there. Soon there were reports of other planes that had lost contact with control towers. Then a plane smashed into the Pentagon. And another into a field in Pennsylvania. My hands shook. My heart pounded. I hugged my children close, prayed and kept watching the news as the events of the day unfolded.Don was a volunteer firefighter at the time. He volunteered with many others in his department to travel to NYC to help with the rescue/recovery efforts. I was scared to let him go, but proud of him for volunteering. None of the guys from his department ended up going.
It was strange to look up into the sky and NOT see any planes for several days after 9/11. The world seemed strangely quiet. The candles on front porches at night and the flags flying everywhere united friends and neighbors together.
Today, 10 years later, we sang "America The Beautiful" as our closing song in Sacrament Meeting. As we were singing, my eyes filled with tears just as they did on the Sunday following that fateful day when we stood in our sacrament meeting and sang the same song. I thought of those who lost their lives on 9/11 as well as the many soldiers who serve our country and those who have given their lives trying to restore some security to this crazy world. Saying "Thank You" doesn't seem to be enough, yet I lack to words to properly express my gratitude to those brave men and women who have done so much to protect my freedom. I will never forget.
