9/11

Sunday, and it’s that time of year when we all remember that terrible day in 2001. I was in Grandview, Missouri at the time, working with a new estimator and teaching him how to use our software. Someone told us that we should come into the conference room and see what was happening on the television. We stared at the screen, not comprehending what we were seeing. In a few minutes, we returned to the computer, shaking our heads and debating about what we had just witnessed. Then the second plane struck. We hurried back to the conference room, incredulous. How could this happen? A third plane...the Pentagon. A fourth?

Here is what I wrote in my journal that day, (Later) it is now 1:00 in Kansas on one of the most infamous days in world history. I was looking for something to copy and paste in the early hours of the morning and now I wish I could make the day just go away and start over! The murder of so many innocent people! Who could dream of such a nightmare? I was in the Missouri office at Dahmer/PCI when we suddenly heard of the first airplane striking the World Trade Center. In just a few more minutes we heard about the second airplane. And then a third and a fourth. I can’t say how I felt…numb is still a good word to describe the feelings. I am now in the hotel room, watching TV and trying to understand what is happening? It’s unbelievable that so much hatred could exist in one persons mind. No, that’s not true…we have seen this hatred before in many guises. History is filled with evidence of our inability to truly love one another. I’ve been watching the images of horror for too many hours…and now the parade of officials marching before the cameras to mouth inappropriate and inadequate comments about this event. I’m so sad that I have lived to see this happen.

On Wednesday, I wrote this… I am sitting in my room, in a hotel in Kansas, watching TV accounts of this disaster, and not being able to really grasp the horror of it all. Most early reports indicate that it was the work of Osama Bin Laden and his terrorist groups. The hunt is on.

By Friday of that week, I had decided to drive home, as no one was able to predict when the airports would re-open. A short trip of 1,855.3 miles and a very long time to be alone with my thoughts about that tragic day.