Terrorism..

It was right before I moved out of the trailer into my own house...September 2001. I was getting ready for work that morning, and I had Good Morning America on the tv, glancing at it every now and then as I rushed through the living room. I stopped, though, when I saw one of the twin Trade Center towers on fire, smoke billowing out of it, and a panicky-sounding news anchor talking hurriedly. I couldn't really stop and listen, though. I had to get to work. It was almost 8 a.m. and I had to go!!

When I got to work, though, there was talk among the others, and everyone in town, about how the World Trade Centers had been hit by a plane and had exploded and were on fire...and then had collapsed! Oh....how that made me feel....! I was shocked, awed, confused, and wondering what in the world was happening!

As the news unfolded, we were informed about the terrorists that had piloted the planes into the side of the towers, one and then another...and then how the towers had gone down right in the middle of New York City! All day...on the news...nothing but stories and reports of what had happened. We were all just in shock. How could this happen? What would happen now? How many people were in there? What would happen to the survivors? To the folks that were close to the buildings? To the rest of the people in my city? So many questions went through my mind...and I just couldn't grasp it all.

In the small Kansas town where I lived, people were trying to find ways to show their support. Flags went up everywhere. Yellow ribbons. Red, white and blue was everywhere! The lines at the gas stations were long, because someone had started a rumor that the gas would be in short supply because of this disaster. I"m not sure where that came from, but I ignored it. I figured I had bigger things to worry about than where my gas was going to come from, and how much it cost. I would wait and see.

Then, we heard about the plane crashing at the Pentago, another devastating and confusing time for all of us. What was going on?

I remember sitting in the laundromat...later that week...and seeing the replay on their little television, once again, of the planes flying into the side of the tall trade center buildings....and feeling tears come to my eyes. Why? I asked myself. Why? Why would anyone do that and kill so many people!? WHY??