Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning?

      9/11. Patriot's Day. We Will Never Forget. Do you remember? I do.

     Chuck had left the night before, flying from Kansas City to Minneapolis for a conference. If you'll remember, one of the flights that hit one of the Twin Towers originated in Minneapolis. On Chuck's flight, he sat next to a Middle Eastern gentleman who kept reading his Koran and praying. One of the hijackers? We'll never know.

     That morning began like any other in our household. Jacque was a freshman and Abbey was in middle school. The girls left together because they started earlier. I was getting ready for work and Luke was chilling, watching Sports Center. He called his friend to see if he was ready to be picked up. His friend asked if he was watching the news. Luke told him she was watching Sports Center. His friend told him to change the channel.  We switched over just as the second plane hit the Twin Towers.  I vividly remember Luke asking if we could go see that movie, and me saying, "Buddy, that's no movie."

     We had to go to school, but I was in shock! We drove by the high school because I knew Jacque had marching band practice. I just wanted to put my eyes on her. I pulled up to the curb and just watched her for a little bit. Above us, there were circular jet trails. I learned later that all flights were being grounded. The jet trails we saw were planes waiting to land in Kansas City.

     I don't remember teaching that day. We were all doing our best to maintain our composure, find out whatever we could, and keep our little people from finding out. On my lunch break, I went to the middle school to put eyes on Abbey. She was in the commons. Her principal, and good friend of mine, came out of the office. He told me that they weren't telling them anything. Abbey's friends said they heard something was bombed. I was able to say, "It was not a bomb." When I went back to my school, cars were lined up out onto the highway at the gas stations. It was just so surreal.

     We tried to function as best as we could, with everything shut down, everyone glued to their televisions, and Chuck stuck in Minneapolis, but NO! Somehow or another Abbey's cat managed to get out of the house. She was declawed and had no way of defending herself. The four of us combed the neighborhood looking for her. During this process, Luke jumped up to grab the rim of a neighbor's basketball goal. It was the kind on wheels that can be moved. He pulled the whole goal down on his head. His head hit the pavement and the goal hit him on the back of the head. Now I had two messed up kids: one crying for her missing cat and one with a concussion, on top of having no idea how my husband was going to get home!

     I kept Luke home from school the next day. Molly, the cat, was on the front porch in the morning. The best we can figure is that she accidentally got shut in someone's garage overnight. There were no flights, no buses, no trains, no cars to rent.  It took Chuck four days, three taxis, and a friend to get home.