9/11

I woke up late that morning. Late, being sometime after 8 a.m. The girls had decided to sleep in and that, thankfully, gave me a few extra moments of rest. They were nine days shy of being five months old. I had only been married a little over a month. But I will never forget that morning.

As was the custom, I walked through the tiny hallway in our apartment and went to turn on the t.v. It was time for Good Morning America and I needed my time with Charlie and Diane before the girls woke up. Still in a haze I clicked the power button on the remote and turned to the kitchen. It took a few minutes before I realized the voice I was hearing wasn't Charlie or Diane, but it was Peter.

Peter? Peter Jennings in the early morning? That couldn't be right. Could it?

I proceeded preparing my toast and I'm sure I grabbed a caffeinated drink. Most definitely soda, not coffee. It wasn't until I saw the t.v. did I realize what was going on. Though, I know I wasn't able to fully comprehend it, because it's still hard for me to wrap my head around it even today.

I watched the coverage of the twin towers with my mouth wide open. I cried. And I was afraid. Did this really just happen? I sat on my couch all day. I could not turn away from the coverage. I called my sister in Baltimore because there was a World Trade Center there. I called Brandon numerous times during the day for reassurance.

I'm not sure how I took care of the girls that day. I think I was in robot mode. I had enough sense, though, to take a picture of them that day. I knew one day I would have to talk about what happened that September morning because our country would not be the same again.

For us, it was pretty easy to move on with our lives. Brandon works in the aviation business and his company took a hit. We knew at any time he could be laid off. But praise God for his provision! We live in a military town now, just a few miles from an Air Force base. Many of the girls' classmates have mothers or fathers that have served or are serving in Iraq. We have C-130's flying overhead night and day. It's a constant reminder for us to never take living here in America for granted.