Remembering...

11 years ago today I was sleeping in my dorm room at Simpson University when the phone rang early in the am, and a friend said that we had been bombed. Being in college I thought that it was a prank call and I hung up. Then again, the phone rang and my friend Heather said again we've been bombed. At that moment I realized who it was and that she wasn't joking.  We quickly got off of the phone because I immediately was attempting to get ahold of my older sister Sally to see if she and George were okay since another plane had hit the Pentagon, where George worked at the time.

My roommates thought I was crazy at first turning the TV on and calling people like a mad woman because it was so early, but they quickly figured out what was going on and we all were in shock.  I don't remember what time we all went to chapel that morning, but I remember that classes were canceled and there was a chapel that we went to. I remember that one of the students from Simpson's grandmother was one one of the planes that had crashed. 

I remember talking to friends and family and finding out that they were all okay. I had a few friends whose parents traveled alot and flew alot of the routes that had been involved in the plane crashes on a regular basis. 

I like to think of myself as a care free person most of the day, but I think that 9/11/01 was the first day that I truly experienced anxiety as an adult.  I remember being extremely anxious flying for the holidays the Christmas season of 2001, so much so that I changed a bunch of flights around for that holiday season. I flew a few days before Christmas up to Seattle, and was supposed to fly back from Seattle into LAX, but changed that flight into Sacramento and drove home from there. I guess I thought that Sac was a safer airport to fly into than LAX.  Then for some reason I changed my flight from flying into BWI from LAX or Ontario (can't remember which one) to wait and until a few days after Christmas.  For some odd reason I felt that it was safer to fly after Christmas.

Luckily no one close to me was harmed during 911, and no one that I personally knew went to New York to help with everything in NY.  I do know that a couple of close people to me were quickly shipped out, as they were in the military, to God only knows where right after 9/11.  Again, we were lucky, and all of those people made it home safely when their tours were done. 

For me, 9/11 changed my view on humanity in a number of ways. For the first time, I began to experience fears of people that I had never experienced before. But, on the other hand, in the days to follow with all of the amazing people that you saw and heard off heading to NY and other areas to help clean up, assist medically, etc., I began to have a different outlook on people and was amazed at what some people did for others.  A huge part of me wanted to be like them and give everything up and head to NY to help out, but I was young and afraid of the unknown, plus I'm pretty sure I would of been disowned for dropping out of college after my parents spent so much money on it! :)

Today, my thoughts and prayers go out to everyone that was greatly affected by the events that took place on 9/11. Today, I am also grateful beyond words to all of those people who assisted with  9/11  and all of the aftermath and to all those men and women who left our American soil to keep us safe in foreign countries. 

On my journey today, I am humbled, thankful and blessed beyond measure!