My husband and I were visiting Chicago to attend the GraphExpo conference for the printing industry. The night before we had attended our 1st ever Cubs game.

On Tuesday morning, we overslept and rushed to get ready for our day at the conference and didn’t turn on the TV. When we arrived downstairs at the hotel, there was a giant screen TV and everyone was gathered around it. I remember thinking, why are they showing a disaster movie on a weekeday morning?

My husband asked someone what was going on and they said, “you really don’t know?” After they explained the tragedy we went straight upstairs to watch the news coverage and slowly we started to grasp the enormity of the situation. Soon after we watched all those firefighters/ police officers rush into the building, we saw the 1st tower fall. What a shock. That’s when I cried as I thought of the incredible bravery the firefighters and police officers were displaying.

In the meantime, our 3 small boys were home with Grandma and Grandpa in Southern California. Our flights were obviously cancelled and all I could think about was getting home. We contacted Enterprise Rent-a-Car and they provided us with a 1-way rental to California. We drove non-stop and were home by Thursday night.

Seeing Chicago at a complete standstill that day was truly bizarre. Not one car or person was on the street except for the police cars on every street corner. Even the sky was empty.