September 11, 2001

As I have listened to the news reports today, it's brought into my memory this same day 7 years ago. I can't believe it's been that long ago that our county was attacked by terrorists. It is one of those days I will never forget.

I remember the day so well. It was just after 7:00 am in Salt Lake. We were living in our 2 bedroom apartment in the Avenues in Salt Lake. We did not have any children yet. Mike was getting ready to go to school up at the U, and I was getting ready for work at the Distribution Center for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where I was a secretary. For some reason that morning, we turned on the TV, which we never did on any other morning.

I remember hearing that a plane hit the World Trade Center, I didn't want to believe it could happen, and was in denial. Right after I got to work, I heard a second plane had hit the other tower. It wasn't until then that the news media started talking about terrorism, and saying that this wasn't just a fluke accident. Then the Pentagon, and the plane going down in Pennsylvania. I remember thinking to myself "how many more planes are going to go down before this is over with today?"

I don't think I got much work done that day. I remember being glued to the radio, and around 2:00, they let us all go home. I looked up in the sky on my way to my car, and there were no planes in sight, nor would there be for the next few days.

I came home and for the rest of the day watched the news. One of my good friends from high school lived in New York at the time. I tried all day long to get a hold of her, but of course, the phone lines were busy. I did finally got a hold of her, and she told me what is was like to have been in the middle of everything that day. It took her all day long to get back to her apartment. I can't imagine what she must have gone through.

The interesting thing is that I had a trip planned to go out to visit my friend during the first weekend in September, just before 9/11. I would have been getting home from my trip on September 3rd, just a week before the attack, but I changed my flight because Mike was put in the Bishopric in our ward the same weekend I was planning on being in New York. I went the first weekend in October instead. It was really interesting being there just a month after the attack. I have video camera footage and pictures of the buildings that fell. There was still smoke coming up from the ground. I saw all of the memorials from people all over the world on the walls in New York. It was hard not to cry at such a sight. There were a lot of people around, but it was quiet there. A sort of reverence for those who were the victims of the attacks.

It was amazing the stories of bravery and heroism that were told in the days that followed. It seemed like for one short moment our world came together, and made the best of what was a horrible situation.

I'm glad I was able to have this experience. It was a neat opportunity, and a good reminder of what transpired that day. Here are some photos from my trip.