Tuesday, September 11 at 8:30 AM CST

Tuesday – 8:30 AM CST
Richardson, TX
Telecom office

I walked past three rows of cubicles to talk to a manager about scheduling. She told me to wait a minute because she was listening to the radio.

Confused and unable to hear the radio, I asked what was going on. Reading her lips, “Two planes crashed into the World Trade Center.”

“What? No, I think I missed what you said. Say again?”

Obviously, I had heard it right the first time. But it just didn’t register because everyone around there didn’t look somber. I mean for news of this magnitude… I think we were in shock and I just didn’t believe it because I could not hear it for myself from the real news source.

After I finished working on the schedule, I returned to my desk and went to the trusty computer. Tried to get into news source #1. Traffic. #2. Traffic. #3. Traffic.

Reload… reaload… reload… “A third plane crashed into the Pentagon,” reported a co-worker. Back to the Web… get the damned resource. Load damned Web site. Ah-ha! I got the front page and I clicked on the article… load, dammit. Error. I was a madman. I wanted my news. I needed to see it for myself.

Another report… “Planed crashed in Pittsburgh.” My need for Web news had never climaxed like this and I couldn’t get to it. I stopped trying. Took care of some real work stuff.

Eventually, I got an article and read it… several times. I was truly numb. Could not feel anything. Silence. Stayed that way for the rest of the day. Didn’t want to talk to anyone. I couldn’t cry, at least, not right away. Just wanted to go home and hug my family.

When the Web calmed down, I searched every news Web site I knew and read all I could. After shoving article after article into my brain… I still couldn’t cry. Couldn’t believe it. New York. Twin towers. Dad’s birthplace. Ellis Island. The Big Apple now with a hole in its core.

Then I had to do the talk with a 7-year-old girl who worries as much as I do. At the time, I hadn’t come across any “How to talk with your kids about violence” resources and was totally on my own because Paul had to go to a meeting that had not been canceled.

I was honest with her. Told her I didn’t know what to say or how to say it. She said just tell her and I did. She asked questions and I didn’t want to answer them in the way she wanted to know. It was just too much to tell her at her age and I wanted the sparkle in her eyes to stick around for a few more years considering kids grow up way too fast today.

Just when Paul had to leave for his meeting, I finally broke down and cried. I never dreamt that politicians could move me, but they did. I cried when I saw Congress standing on the Capitol steps singing “God Bless America.”
I spent the rest of the week in procrastination galore mode.

Blood drives – please, please give blood again 56 days after you donate. There is ALWAYS a need for blood. We had a serious shortage over the past year. Plus, blood expires in 42 days and there are burn victims who will continue to need it. Just make it a seasonal habit… four times a year… summer, fall, winter, and spring. I gave blood 50 days ago and will do it again in 6 days.

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