Where were you?

Growing up I always heard that question linked to major history making events. I never understood why it was that important and I realized that it was because I had never experienced something that life changing before.

For my parents generation, it seems the Kennedy assassination seems to be the one everyone links to. Ken remembers the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger. People I went to school with were floored with the suicide death of Kurt Cobain of the band Nirvana. I know of all of these events and yet none of them effected me personally.

Then one September morning in 2001 I woke up and life changed. Ken and I were newlyweds living in our first apartment. The radio came on early like it always did, as Ken got ready for work and I tried to catch a few more winks of sleep. It was then that the news break took a strange turn. A news item from New York... the Twin Towers on fire.

I jumped out of bed and flipped on the tv. There is was, a burning building like I had never seen before. I have never been to New York, but from countless movies I knew the sight of that building from the skyline. Ken and I sat glued to the set until he had to leave and I had to get ready for work. During that time as I ate my cereal another explosion happened. I suddenly lost my appetite. What was happening? I wanted to stay watching, but I had to leave for work.

When I arrived at the grocery store where I was a cashier, I went to the break room to find others watching the events of the tv as well. It was then that the first tower collapsed... then word of other airplanes missing, an explosion at the Pentagon. This seemed like a movie, one that always left you glad that it was only a movie... but this was real... very real.

My shift was a blur of comments from people talking about what was happening. Every moment there was a moment to slip away, one of us would to find out more from the tv upstairs. It was the longest shift of my life, and all I wanted was to get home and be with Ken.

In the coming days and weeks we learned more... not only how and why but more importantly who... the people who we were losing to this terrible tragedy... our family, friends and co workers. That's when the connections started happening. Ken having friends in New York at the time who saw things from a window as they happened. A friend from church who was to be in the building THAT DAY, but his meeting was canceled. This event was real to me, it hit close to home... it became my 'where I was' moment. I will remember it for as long as I live... I pray for the families near and far that were affected by this... and I pray for peace.