I was in 7th grade during 9/11. I was sitting in my typing class when I first heard the news. It seemed unreal and I forced myself to think that it was just an accident. I didn’t understand the whole story. When I got home from school that day, my older brothers & my dad were watching the news and my mom was on the phone with some relatives in New York. It was then that I discovered that my aunt was in the South Tower and no one could find her. I realized things didn’t look very good. My family watched the news for hours that night, waiting for a phone call to let us know that my aunt was alright. That call never came. Instead-almost a year later, a call came that told us that Aunt Donna had been found. And she hadn’t survived the attacks. It took awhile to get used to the idea that she won’t be visiting us anymore. She won’t be at my graduation-like she was for my brothers’. And she won’t be here for my brother’s wedding on Saturday. Yet when we think about it, she’ll still be around, and she’ll have the best seat in the house. Because I know she’s watching over us.

We love & miss you Aunt Donna. I still think about you every day. R.I.P Donna Wilson.