9/11

I can't believe its been 7 years since September 11. Patrick and I were living in Charleston, SC and were getting ready to move. We had sold off all our furniture to a College of Charleston exchange student and were sleeping in a sleeping bag in our living room. All that was left in the room was a big rug, our tv and our sleeping bag and I woke up that morning, reached up and turned the tv on to the TODAY show and laid back down. The first plane had already struck the first tower and I was so confused about what I was seeing. I nugged Patrick next to me and he woke up and watched with me. As it unfolded and the towers eventually fell I seriously started to lose it. When both towers fell I remember Katie Couric saying "we can only imagine the amount of lives that are being lost right now." There was so much misinformation coming across the tv at that point and we were being told one minute that there were 20,000 people in the towers and the next minute we were told that everyone got out safely. I remember seriously starting to panic - there were thousands of people in those towers and there was no way they were making it out. I just couldn't fathom or believe what we were watching with our own eyes take place. We could hear plane taking off from the Charleston air force base and zooming over our apartment. I remember having a real, honest fear that a bomb was going to fall on our city. I called my family and I remember my mom was really awkwardly calm, Sue Anne was visiting in Tallahassee and definitely understood the magnitude of what was going on. She was freaking and was calling the Red Cross to try and volunteer. Christa was living in Atlanta. I don't remember her reactions but I remember talking to her and being so nervous since Atlanta was a big city and they were saying on the tv that it could be a possible target. I vividly remember talking to my dad and I could hear the tension/fear/confusion in his voice. He kept saying "my god sweet thing, i just can't believe this is happening..." When my dad is nervous that makes me really nervous.
I remember the months and months of heart wrenching stories that came out about the people who died. I went to Ground Zero once when I was visiting Sue Anne and Jason in NYC. It was so moving to be there and see it with my own eyes.

Today I am so thankful for my family and our safety.