Thursday, September 11, 2008

Remembering on 9/11

My thoughts go back to that fresh sunny morning 7 years ago. My prayers go out to all who grieve and have suffered from the tragedy that day. 

I remember clearly that I was in a Bible study with dear women at church, when our pastor came downstairs to ask us to pray due to an airplane crashing into one of the World Trade Center Towers. We gathered in a circle and began to pray. 
Several minutes later he came back down and gravely told us that another plane had crashed into the other tower. We all sank to our knees to pray more. Later on, he returned saying there were rumors of planes above DC, and a rumor that a building in DC had been hit, and again with the true fact that a plane had crashed into the Pentagon. 
The husband of a woman in our circle was working there at that moment. Many of us had close friends who worked at the Pentagon and neighbors as well.
We left to see what to do to support our neighbors and to see about removing our children from school. (many of our husbands work in D.C.)
I removed my three young kids from their elementary school and tried to reach my husband. It was a harrowing time. I remember that my husband could not get through on his cell phone and that the trains and metro situation and the whole city of D.C. was in a state of chaos and shock and wondering how to get back home, or what to do. Some govt. folks were told to move to different sections of their buildings.

The shock of it all is still fresh. One of the strangest things that I remember is the beauty of the day that morning, how clear the sky was, the temperature so perfect, school had just begun and it was a fresh start. I pray that for those who lost loved ones, and are still suffering the loss, or still suffering from the mental anguish and shock, that they will find peace and comfort, and know that they are not alone. 

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