A Typical Day at the Office
The drive was uneventful. Well, as uneventful as driving a beat up, piece o wreck can be.
I came to a stop at a red light just as I entered into Dothan city limits. Almost to work.
The DJ announced that a small plane hit the World Trade Center. That is exactly why I will never get into a small plane. They are so dangerous. The light turns green and my car sputters through the intersection.
And here we are. At the office, in my cubicle all geared up to sell "performance apparel". Oh dear, how is it I came to find this job? Its a temp, hang on for a few more months.
Someone came in to my office, late, and said they just heard on the radio that another plane hit the other tower of the Trade Center.
This is a little freaky.
Of all the days to be stuck in an office with no access to the internet, television or radio. I was in a black hole of information. The only updates I got was from random people walking in relaying what they just heard or watched.
Denise walked in and practically yelled "they just hit the Pentagon".
My mind spun.
Uncle Dave works in the Pentagon.
I whipped out my cell phone and called the house. No answer. Of coarse no answer. Dave and Tina are both at work. I leave a message telling them I'm praying Dave is fine.
I spun back around and started taking in the conversations of the room.
There was a lot of babbling but Angel's words were loud and clear "you know this means our husbands are going to war".
The owner asked my manager if anyone felt like they needed to leave. He suggested I go. I headed out the door and blazed up to Fort Rucker as fast as I could.
What is going on? Not a single aircraft in the sky. At a place were hundreds of pilots are training every day to fly, this is an eerie silence.
I made it on post just before they locked down the installation.
And that was the last day I lived without war in my life.
Nearly 3000 people died on US soil on 9/11.
Over 6500 US Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines have given their life in Afghanistan and Iraq since that day.
Thousands of families have lived their life in a year on year off deployment schedule. Marriages are tried, families are tested, lives are shattered. Soldiers are wounded physically, emotionally, mentally. 116 US Army soldiers committed suicide in the first 7 months of 2012 while the military as a whole is averaging one suicide a day. The death continues.
The first plane hitting that first tower was just the beginning of over a decade of loss.
Dave made it out of the Pentagon unharmed and still works there today.
Matt did go to war, but by God's providence he only deployed one time in over a decade.
A few days ago Gabriel asked me what he thought was an easy question "mom, who is winning the war? Us or the bad guys?"
My response was simply this "it is hard to say we are winning when people are still dying".
I'll take a moment this year to remember those who lost their lives on 9/11, honor those who died fighting this war on terror, and pray for those who are still fighting.
I came to a stop at a red light just as I entered into Dothan city limits. Almost to work.
The DJ announced that a small plane hit the World Trade Center. That is exactly why I will never get into a small plane. They are so dangerous. The light turns green and my car sputters through the intersection.
And here we are. At the office, in my cubicle all geared up to sell "performance apparel". Oh dear, how is it I came to find this job? Its a temp, hang on for a few more months.
Someone came in to my office, late, and said they just heard on the radio that another plane hit the other tower of the Trade Center.
This is a little freaky.
Of all the days to be stuck in an office with no access to the internet, television or radio. I was in a black hole of information. The only updates I got was from random people walking in relaying what they just heard or watched.
Denise walked in and practically yelled "they just hit the Pentagon".
My mind spun.
Uncle Dave works in the Pentagon.
I whipped out my cell phone and called the house. No answer. Of coarse no answer. Dave and Tina are both at work. I leave a message telling them I'm praying Dave is fine.
I spun back around and started taking in the conversations of the room.
There was a lot of babbling but Angel's words were loud and clear "you know this means our husbands are going to war".
The owner asked my manager if anyone felt like they needed to leave. He suggested I go. I headed out the door and blazed up to Fort Rucker as fast as I could.
What is going on? Not a single aircraft in the sky. At a place were hundreds of pilots are training every day to fly, this is an eerie silence.
I made it on post just before they locked down the installation.
And that was the last day I lived without war in my life.
Nearly 3000 people died on US soil on 9/11.
Over 6500 US Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines have given their life in Afghanistan and Iraq since that day.
Thousands of families have lived their life in a year on year off deployment schedule. Marriages are tried, families are tested, lives are shattered. Soldiers are wounded physically, emotionally, mentally. 116 US Army soldiers committed suicide in the first 7 months of 2012 while the military as a whole is averaging one suicide a day. The death continues.
The first plane hitting that first tower was just the beginning of over a decade of loss.
Dave made it out of the Pentagon unharmed and still works there today.
Matt did go to war, but by God's providence he only deployed one time in over a decade.
A few days ago Gabriel asked me what he thought was an easy question "mom, who is winning the war? Us or the bad guys?"
My response was simply this "it is hard to say we are winning when people are still dying".
I'll take a moment this year to remember those who lost their lives on 9/11, honor those who died fighting this war on terror, and pray for those who are still fighting.
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