On 9/11 2001 I had started my day very up beat and full of energy. I did my normal routine of getting my children up and ready for school, had breakfast and we waited for the bus to arrive after the initial morning shuffle.Never once did we turn on the tv which is customary to watch morning cartoons.So at about ten thirty that morning I decided to take a bike ride on what seemed to be an incredibly warm and beautiful September day, it was like summer just couldn’t say goodbye here in upstate new york. I remember looking to the sky while going up the road and saying thanks to God for the weather and being apart of the day.

I stopped in the small village near my town to visit with some friends who meet once a week and as I got off my bike a gentleman I know came up to me and asked me what I thought about the world trade center and pentagon. This puzzled me and I said simply they’re nice buildings. the man gave me a perplexed look and said quite frankly, planes have crashed into them. At that moment my stomach heaved and my body went numb I just couldn’t comprehend what he meant. Soon those to whom I was friends with came and told me of the attacks and that it was true and confirmed and hadn’t I watched the news this morning.

All I could think was that we only live three hundred miles from the city and how could those enormous buildings have been so systematically descimated.

I knew immediately that this had to have been a highly orchestrated attack and the responsible parties were well financed. when I got home I turned the tv on and sat transfixed for the rest of the afternoon. I tried to make sense of it and there was none to be made. How could I explain this to my children and not panic them into believing that it was the end for them too!

I cried and wept for the people trapped and for the families waiting. I cried for all of us who are free and live in this country, and now I knew how so many countries feel when they are attacked and persecuted for believing in their chosen way of life.

The hardest thing for me was going into work, because I work for a major printing company and the press I work on does all the major covers for time, newsweek, and people it just sucked to witness the carnage the photos showed.

Never in a million years would I think that i would be present for such an eerie and historical moment. I’m still disturbed by what has happened to the innocence of so many children and pray that as a nation and individuals we can remember that day in our hearts when we fill with anger or hate toward another. I try very hard to be a better person to those i know and love. It doesn’t make what has happened any different but it makes a better life for someone today.

My and my family’s prayers to those who were truly a part of 9/11 and not just an observer to terror.