Where were you when the world stopped turning...

…On that September day?

It has been six years now and I still remember vividly what I was doing on the day of the terror attacks.

I was a Freshman in college; I was working at Sundance Stables and house sitting to pay for school and my bad shopping habits. At this particular time I was house sitting for a couple in Huntertown – and having a horrible time! I don’t really believe in hauntings and spooks and things like that, “It will take something happening to me to make me a believer, “ I would always say. I was made a half-assed believer while staying in this house, but that’s another story saved for another day.

Anyhow, the couple I was house sitting for was visiting France . September 11, 2001 was a Tuesday, I had classes starting at 8:45 Am. When my class was finished I met April and Rachel in the hall like always. As we walked towards the common area we saw a very large group of people gathered around a cluster of televisions. None of us had a clue as to what was going on, so I pushed my way to the front of the crowd and came face to face a big screen television just in time to see an instant replay of an airplane crashing into the second tower. I started shaking and sweating.

My first thought was “Damn it! Now I’ll have to keep staying at that awful house!” The people I was house sitting for were scheduled to come back late that night. It was to be my last night staying in that terrible house.

Within seconds I felt terrible for being more concerned about my own comfort level than the people that were directly affected by the attacks. I was shocked at what was taking place. Numb. I prayed. I prayed like I had never prayed before.

I never realized what terror was. Having never lived through something like this, I didn’t know what to expect to feel. I was a Midwestern farm girl that was raised in a complete oblivion to what was going on in the world outside of my school bus and classroom. Terror to me was catching a glimpse of Freddie Kruger on the tv late at night when passing through to the kitchen for a drink while Dad was watching a show. The attacks of September 11, 2001 introduced me to real terror, a terror that caused a world wide stand still and made everyone across the nation want to retreat to their homes and lock their doors. A terror like no other. A terror that I hope I never feel again.