9/11 Eight Years Later

This day, 8 years ago, remains so vivid in my memory it does not seem like it was that long ago.

I got a call that morning from someone in Dallas, telling me to turn on my TV, that the World Trade Center had been hit by a plane. I knew the caller was in the vicinity of the Dallas World Trade Center, so I assumed that that was what had been struck by a plane.

I turned on my TV seconds before the second jet crashed into the New York City World Trade Center tower.

I was shocked. As soon as I realized this was an attack of the most outrageous sort and not knowing how bad or extensive it was, I started calling friends and relatives on the west coast to tell them to get out of bed and turn on their TVs. The only one who was already up and watching was my sister Jackie in Marysville, now living in Arizona.

I did not tell any of those I called why they needed to get up and turn on their TVs. When they asked I just said, "Trust me. You need to get up and turn on the TV."

The days after 9/11 were very strange. I remember going to Wal-Mart and the mood was so somber, like people were in a state of shock, which I guess they were. I remember driving by the McDonald's by Six Flags Over Texas and there was this semi-old guy standing on the bed of his pickup waving a flag back and forth. I wondered how long he'd been doing that. When I drove by 2 hours later he was still standing and waving the flag.