September 11th

On September 11, 2001 I was at a work meeting in Washington D.C. I was in the basement of a super duper fancy hotel learning about a new drug for anxiety, ironically enough. There was a ridiculously cocky doctor that was in charge of the study that came to the front after someone asked a question regarding some paperwork and he said, "Ladies and Gentelmen, we have experienced a national emergency." I thought it was just insane that he thought this paperwork was so important, but then he told us what had happened and we rushed to the phones to call our loved ones. We were told to stay in the basement, because our hotel was just a 5 minute walk from the White House, and they were concerned for our safety. So of course, I immediately had to go upstairs to see that the world was still there.

I was trapped in D.C. for 5 days after the attacks. I recall people on the news saying that nobody can ever take away our freedom, but I assure you that my freedom WAS taken away for those 5 days. There were no flights, no cars to be rented, and I did not have the money to buy a car to get out of town like some of the doctors at the meeting did. As we walked around town for those long, stressful days, there were snipers on the buildings, roads shut down with armed guards with gigantic weapons, fire engines blazing down the streets to help at the Pentagon........

It was hard for me to grasp that the world outside of D.C. and New York went on with some sense of normality before I even got home. I couldn't believe that people could just go on with their days like usual. I have learned, however that life really does go on, whether you get on the ride or not. The sun rises and sets as usual, the tide rises and ebbs, life goes on. I had never been so grateful when I finally got home. On an entire airplane, there were 5 of us that dared to get on the flight. And my life continued, but it has never been the same. I don't take the same things for granted that I did before, and freedom is not just a word, but a possession I have that I hold very dear.