september 11

It's good to remember...but also very sad. I'm often torn between wanting to acknowledge the tragedy that occurred five years ago, and moving on and focusing on positive things.

It's crazy, how everyone you talk to can tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing, on 9-11.

I was living in Columbus, Mississippi. I was sitting at the Commercial Dispatch, next to my coworker and friend, Jackie. We were just beginning our work day, talking, normal stuff. And then we heard about the first plane hitting. I don't remember if we heard it on the radio, or if someone came in and told us. But after that, we were glued to the radio all day long. It was horrible to hear about all this awful stuff, all day long. We built up a picture of what had happened, in our minds. It was all so sad, so earth shattering. There was a definite feeling that things would never be the same.

At the time, I lived on a military base. Getting onto the base, so that I could get home, was the worst part of my day. It took three hours of waiting in a long line, to get through the gates. Every single car was stopped, and searched. The security police were not nice. Having never been through searches like this and not knowing what to expect or what to do, they yelled at me. Trunk open, hood open, everything open for a search. And then they would move on to the next batch of cars. This is an experience I will never forget. Just wanting the day to be over. Standing, all alone, next to my car under the big flood lights.

And then, three hours later, I actually saw the images for the first time on television. What I had only envisioned all day long was suddenly real in front of me. The first plane. The second plane. The buildings crumbling. So horrific.

Things are different since that awful day. It's good for us to remember. It's good for us to remember so that we go out every single day and live our life to the fullest. Because you just never know...