Do You Remember?

I remember exactly where I was when I heard about the first plane hitting the World Trade Center. My Kindergarten class was in the gym for P.E., and I was in the Teacher Workroom with my friend, Mandy. Mrs. McGahee came in and shouted, "We're under attack! A plane just hit the World Trade Center in New York!" Mandy and I looked at each other and hurried to the TV in her classroom. We watched in horror as the second plane hit the second tower. It was so hard to believe that this was really happening! I immediately called Randy to make sure he was okay, and then I called my Mom. She had already been trying to call my Aunt Pat to find out about my cousin Paige. Paige lived in New York City right behind the World Trade Center. No one could get her on the phone or find her! The rest of my day I tried to hold it together for my little Kindergartners, but it was hard! I left early that day and hurried to my parents' house and got to squeeze Caitlin as hard as I could (she was only a year old). We finally found out that Paige and her boyfriend, Christian, were okay. They had to run out of their apartment with only a few personal items. They walked all the way across the George Washington Bridge to New Jersey and found a hotel to stay at for a few nights. When they finally were allowed back into their apartment, it was extremely unstable and covered in ashes. They were able to salvage a few things but left most of their life's possessions there to be destroyed when the apartment building was demolished a few weeks later. I still get tears in my eyes thinking about that day and how scared I was for me, my family, and our country.