I was...

at home ten years ago with my little ones...ages 1,3, and 5 when the telephone rang. A friend who knew I seldom watched television told me to turn it on. As I watched the horror play out from my quiet Montana community, I remembered visiting New York City that spring with my sister. I had seen the twin towers and taken them for granted, not to mention we had ridden the subway to the World Trade Center. It was surreal to watch the attacks unfold.

Today I met a woman who just moved here from Pennsylvania near Philadelphia. As we chatted, she mentioned the anniversary of 9/11, and I learned she was working in Manhattan that day. Her husband watched the second plane hit and rushed to get his wife who could only see the debris floating by her window. The day is obviously etched in her memory permanently. The trauma is revealed in her voice and facial expressions...the emotions still strong.

We were all in different places that day, but each of us carries a memory of the day.