Where I Was

I was at the corner of Three Notch and Buse Roads, headed to work.  It was 8:50 a.m. and the radio station had interrupted music for an announcement.  When I heard this, I immediately knew that it was bad.  I could smell it in the air.  Evil.  I prayed all the way to work that day, and by the time I arrived, it went from bad to worse.  The other office employee had found a small black and white television, and had been trying to tune it to anything that would bring a picture to what was being reported on the radio.  Phone calls started coming as did emails.  Everyone back home was curious and checking on us.  Trying to make sure that he and i were both alright.  At that point, I told them, I couldn’t make contact with him.  I asked them to pray, and promised them i would call as soon as i had heard something from him.  When I was finally able to make contact with my husband, the towers had fallen, the pentagon had been hit, and a plane crashed in Pennsylvania.  He said that he may not be around much, that they may get sent out on a mission.  There was so much uncertainty then.  The base he worked on was already was high security, and now it seemed it was on lock down.  I asked my boss what I should do, and he said to stay put.  Since we weren’t sure if there were more attacks coming, I would be more safe in the office, than I would in our home.  I could hardly stand the thought of my husband flying off into danger somewhere, without me telling him goodbye. It would crush me.  The day dragged on, and eventually everyone decided they needed to go home.  I sat in line for three hours waiting to get home that day.  I was one of the last few cars allowed on base, and at 7 pm, Marshall Law was declared on post.  We were not allowed to be out walking around, we were to remain in our homes.  Since there was no guarantee we were safe, the base was considered more secure if those who resided on it were kept inside.  Every porch light in our development was on, either for safety, or for the spouses who were still working.  Like mine.  As I sat in amazement, watching the day’s events replayed on the evening news, I wondered how this could be real.  I remember thinking that it all seemed like a movie.  That it just could not be true.  After all, this is America, in the new millenium.  With all the technology, with all the technology, every intelligence we have avialable to us, I struggled to understand how something so evil, so rotten to the core could get to us here on our own soil.  It was the only time in my life I worried about the future.  Were we really in the end times, and the world is going to end?  I prayed off and on as I studied all that the media had to offer, and answered phone calls coming in from across the country.  Eventually, he got home, exhausted after a 23 hour day.  He was to get three hours sleep and report for watch and duty the next day.  I was upset that they kept him that long, but he reminded me that I should be grateful, because they were going to evacuate the squadrons, or restrict them to barracks.  So I really was lucky, and eventually conceded that I should just enjoy the time I had with him, safe at home with me.  In bed that night, we both prayed as we held hands, and  fell asleep, wondering what tomorrow would bring.
That was a long time and a lot of miles ago.  It seems like another lifetime.  Even though I was “safe” and not in a place of immanent danger, like New York, the Pentagon or Pennsylvania, I still view that day as one that changed my life.  There are days I don’t worry as much.  I’m pretty peaceful, and wrapped up in my own little family, and not too worried about all that’s going on in the big bad world.  However, there are still days when I think about how quickly the world turned that day.  I think about how little and wimpy and without power I am.  I remember how scary and dark and evil the world seems sometimes.  I never forget to tell my family that I love them.  Because the one thing that I learned that day is that time is relative.  Every second counts.