Tuesday, September 11, 2001, began like any other day. On my way out the door the Christian radio station I leave on all the time caught my ear. Did I hear correctly? Something about a plane and the Trade Center in New York. My feet felt heavy as I stepped back into the house. Grasping the remote I turned on the TV. This was big!

     Before my eyes a plane flew into the other tower. My flesh went numb. The CBS Morning Show commentators were struggling to make some sense out of what we were all seeing. One of the commentators said, "Oh, NO! We have a report that another plane has just hit the Pentagon. "A picture of the Pentagon came on the screen. It didn't stay on long. "Oh my GOD!" said a commentator. The camera returned me to New York where the first tower tumbled to the ground. I felt like I was living in slow motion. Mentally I went to work. As I watched the TV I started making calls. Tim, my son, works at Dulles Airport. Was he OK? My husband works Civil Service. Was he OK? One by one I called my family. All were OK. My husband was in lock down at his job. 

     While I was making the calls and watching TV I was also praying. As I learned of the safe status of each of my family I thanked my God, but I wept for the dead, for their families, for my country, and for the future of America. The voices of ages past entered my mind. My parents lived through the Depression as children. My Dad is a WW II veteran, part of The Greatest Generation, my husband a Vietnam veteran. I graduated high school at a time when the evening news spoke the following: "And today the Pentagon reports so and so many casualties. "

     Tears still come. I realize the gravity of our situation as a nation. I am proud to be an American. Don Feder, a columnist with The Boston Herald, says patriotism is dying a slow death in America. Maybe it was? But,not any more. "...Be strong and of a good courage; be not dismayed: for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:9. 

© 2001 Sharon Slaughter All Rights Reserved