10 years

I learned about the first tower being hit by a plane from my best friend, Kerry, who worked in the same office. She liked to listen to the news on her radio, and that morning I heard her start crying.

That afternoon, I had a requirements meeting with some Israeli vendors. They never mentioned the attacks and really, what could they say? Hi, welcome to what we live with all the time. I kept wondering, though, how they did live with the threat of terrorist attacks like that.

That night I skipped class (computer science math), and stayed home with my son. We watched one replay of the towers collapsing. Jordan was moving to Dallas and was scheduled to fly there that Friday; his plane ended up being one of the first flights allowed out of MCI. Logically I knew the chances of anything happening were slim, but it was really hard to take him to the airport.

9-11 was also a few weeks after I’d told Kent we probably shouldn’t date because he hadn’t yet sorted out the kids issue. I’m not sure why, but the attacks caused me to start reevaluating my decision and thinking maybe I’d made a mistake. On October 6, Sprint laid him and 5,999 other people off and then I knew I’d blown it.

I also remember that our fall foliage was probably the most beautiful I’d ever seen it be. The Midwest isn’t known for brilliant leaves in the fall but that year it was stunning. And I thought it was so very unfair.

Now I live in a city where two of the flights originated. Their departing gates have American flags hanging outside from them. I haven’t flown United in years so I haven’t used that gate; I’ve flown American, but you have to be outside to really see the flag.