Seven years ago, shortly before 9am est a commercial jet full of passengers slammed into the World Trade Center Tower 1.  Then another one hit the other tower.  By noon, both Towers had collapsed creating panic disbelief and shock not only on the island of Manhattan but across the world.

I know exactly where I was every minute of that day.  I even remember the clothes I was wearing.  It was the most beautiful September morning.  Blue skies, clear and crisp until it all went black. 

I was driving to work when the first tower was hit.  Sitting in traffic as was normal for my commute then.  The minute I walked into the office though I got pulled to our kitchen to watch TV.  And there, live I watched the second tower get hit.  I was stunned and shocked as was everyone else.  The phone lines were jammed.  It was almost impossible to get thru.  I managed to call my parents to let them know I was headed home for the day.  Before I could get out of the office though, both towers collapsed sending up a cloud of debri that you only see in the movies.  I can still see that image in my head.  The sick feeling that you know what has just happened but can’t quite comprehend that it was real.

I drove home in shock.  I listened to talk radio the whole way home.  I glued myself to the news when I got home.  And then it got worse.  They hit the Pentagon.  OMG what was happening!  And then the plane that went down in a field in Pennsylvannia, taken over by the passengers who found out what had happened because they talked to their families and heard the news.  Those passengers took control and brought that plane down so it wouldn’t hit it’s target.  They sacrified themselves for the rest of us.

That day will always be a painful memory for me.  I lost a few friends who worked in the towers.  We as a country lost that day.  In the years since a lot of things have happened because of that one day.  For once in a very long time the entire world stood with us, united in a common goal.  That was a short lived ideal.  We went after Bin Laden, rightfully so.  Did we get him?  No.  Could we have?  Yes.  We let him get away.  Why would we do that?  In my opinion it’s because our government wanted another war.  They didn’t want it to be *over*. 

Now this isn’t a political blog and I’m not going to rant about my feelings over the war or this administration.  I’ll take my rant into the voting booth come November.  As should every American of voting age.  If your a woman, you have even more of a reason to go and vote.  Remember those women who stood up for women’s rights?  Yep them.  They made sacrificies so we could vote.  So go do it.  End of rant about polictics.

So today we remember those that were lost.  The people on the planes, the ones who simply went to work that day, the firefighters and policemen who responded to the disaster and the brave folks on that United flight who said *NO we won’t let it happen*. 

There will be events all over the country and the grid today.  If you can go to one, do it.  Regardless of whether you lost someone yourself, we all lost that day.  If you can’t get to an event or that’s just not your thing, take a moment to think about the souls who left us. 

At 8:46am edt I’ll be at my desk, remembering.

Tags: 9-11, day of remembrance, pentagon, world trade center