In Memory

I'll never forget September 11th. I was living in Boston, just a quarter mile from the airport and right in a flight path. I probably heard and saw the fated jets take off that day. But I wouldn't have noticed because by then we had been living there so long that the sound and sights of the jets were interwoven into the fabric of our being. I ventured downtown that morning and found the streets eerily quiet - probably because everyone was glued to television and radio. But I had a therapy appointment and so I drove downtown. But the building was being evacuated. Apparently the Israeli Consulate was located in that building and there was fear that it would be attacked. There was a lot of fear that day. I drove home in shock. I was still married at the time and my husband worked at a major hospital. He called to say they were being held over on emergency status, they were preparing for the casualties that would surely be airlifted shortly throughout New England. For a brief moment I was proud of Boston's world class hospitals. How wonderful that we would be able to help. The children in our town were sent home from school. And then the plane hit at the Pentagon, the plane crashed in PA, the towers fell in front of our eyes. And a palpable pallor fell over the city of Boston. For the first time in 10 years the sky was empty. The constant roar of jets and traffic was now replaced by silence. The jets were grounded, everything and everyone came to a stop. The F16's took to the air. From my porch I would watch them as the circled the city, turning wide as they cruised along the harbor and up the coast and coming back again around the west side of the airport. My husband called to say he would be coming home. Their would be no airlifts, no lives to save. We gathered in the street with the neighbors to talk and to pray, not knowing what else to do with ourselves. We lit candles and cried. We called every person we knew with a connection to NYC to make sure they and their families were safe. We flew the flag from our porches, attached flags to our cars, and we prayed some more.

God Bless our brave soldiers who are fighting this war on terror and God Bless the men and women and families of September 11th. I will never forget.