we will never forget....

like everyone else on that horrifying day, i remember exactly what i was doing when i heard about the planes hitting the world trade center.

tuesdays were my day to start work late.  i didn't have to be there until 10:00 am.  when getting ready on the late mornings, i would turn the tv on and watch the martha stewart show.  when i turned the tv on that day (the sound came on before the picture did in our tv)  i remember hearing a mans voice talking.  i wasn't paying too much attention because i was busy getting ready, but i was trying to figure out what man martha had as a guest on her show that day.

when the picture finally came up, the first image i saw was the burning tower.  my second thought was, "why is (the movie) independence day playing at this time of day"?

of course, it didn't take long to figure out what was going on....that i was actually watching the "today show" that had pre-empted martha, and that man was matt lauer.

i called don at work (on the manufacturing floor at general motors) and he had just gotten called into an office with a tv and had seen it too....we said extra "i love you's" during that phone call.

i called my parents and my dad didn't have the tv on yet.  i told him what i had seen and i remember telling him "we are in big trouble".  with everyone else, i tried to process the shock and horror of what had happened, but i couldn't.  it was hard to pull myself away from the tv to go to work and while on my way there, they announced that the first tower had collapsed. 

 i was petrified and sick with worry.  

i'd dropped 4 year old austen off at daycare before i went to work.  shannon was 20 years old and already living on her own.  within the hour,  i made shannon go pick him up and bring him to my work.  my mom came to my work too and they all stayed there until late in the afternoon.  

i didn't want to be at work, i wanted to be at home, in my secure nest...

i just wanted my family with me.  i needed to see them, feel them.

i think the thing that scared me the most was the fact that you could not listen to the radio and hear music.  every station was now a news station..the other thing that scared me was that i didn't hear any airplanes in the air that day.  that was so weird because there is a minor airport about 7 miles from our house and we heard planes all of the time. 

 they just became white noise in everyday life but that day, 

the silence was deafening.

we sat that night, huddled on the couch together, watching the recap of the days news.  

since i had been at work late that day, i hadn't heard too much about 

the other planes going down in pennsylvania and at the pentagon. 

we all slept in the same bed that night, and the next night. 

i was scared beyond thought but i felt lucky that i had my family intact and with me.

my heart went out that day and many, many days since to the families of the victims.

ten years later, i hope that most of the families have found peace in their "new normal". 

however far removed we were in distance from new york, i never forgot that it just as easily could have been our family, or yours or anyones.   

i pray for the deployed soldiers and their families now fighting to secure our freedom.

god bless them and keep them and i want them to know that my family will 

always remember.......  

****adding something interesting today****
for dinner today i made pasta with chicken and artichoke hearts. i got out the jar and.......

 this was what i found on the lid....

for reals........