I remember...
What a beautiful, crisp, sunny morning it was as I drove in to work at Ferrellgas 15 years ago today, on September 11, 2001. The confusion I felt as I entered the on-ramp to I-35 when KLJC's morning DJ announced a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers. The tone of her voice was alarming. Something wasn't right. Walking into the office and realizing the gravity of the situation as my coworkers and I gathered around a small radio...and my boss grew so upset she finally just shut it off. We had no smart phones with Internet. We didn't even have Internet access on our computers...just a radio and each other. The horribly sick feeling that crept into my stomach and chilled me to the core. Why? How? I couldn't wrap my mind around any of it. Talking to customer service reps that day, and instead of getting down to business as usual and discussing credit scores and approvals, each conversation started with a "How are you?" and ended with a "Hang in there, friend." I remember Jason calling to see if I was ok, and that he would be making the 4-hour drive home after his last class at C of O. I remember Dad calling and saying he'd pay for our gas because news anchors were reporting prices would soar above $5 a gallon. Driving to Wendy's for lunch and hardly being able to eat as I sat in my car in the parking lot, listening to the reports of each attack over the radio. The heartbreaking images on every channel when I finally got home and turned on the TV. I remember the world seemed to stop...but the tears did not. 15 years later...it still feels like yesterday. We are never guaranteed the next day, the next hour, the next minute. Today is a reminder to lift each other up as we did that day; to show love to friends and strangers alike; to remember the innocent and the courageous who paid the ultimate price on and after September 11, 2001; to tell our story about how 9/11 affected each of us when asked by our students - many of whom were not even born yet or were too young to know what had happened. God bless those who serve, and God bless our Nation. Even with our differences and faults, there's no place I'd rather be. ~Sheri
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