I was in a New Jersey suburb of New York City. I had just finished a water aerobics course and got a call from my daughter, who lived in Brooklyn Heights with a direct view of the World Trade Center. She said that she had been drinking her morning coffee and saw smoke coming from the World Trade Center. She saw a plane heading towards it and thought the plane was there to put the fire out. She saw the second plane hit. I was very grateful that she was safe, but I was still concerned about her. We only talked briefly to leave lines open for emergency calls. That was how I first heard what had happened.
My husband was working in the city that day. Fortunately, he was working uptown as his office was just two blocks from the World Trade Center. He was unable to get home to New Jersey that night. However, he was able to reach me so I knew that he was okay.
That evening I went to a memorial service in our small town. Our town of less than 12,000 people lost 11 people in that tragedy. Everyone knew someone who was affected. I do not think I will ever forget that service.
Do you realize that there still are many people suffering from that tragedy? I will never understand what makes people do things like that. Perhaps I am better off not understanding.
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