I can't believe I forgot

I woke up early this morning stumbled out kicked on the TV, the news is going as I start the coffee, and I hear the newscaster talk about September 11th and today's anniversary. I stopped what I was doing and thought....wow; how is it I completely forgot about today. I know I will never forget where I was, what I was doing, who I was with when I found out. I was at work, it was a Tuesday morning when I made my way down to the cafeteria for a cup of coffee and a break with my coworkers. As we walked toward the seating area I quickly noticed a large group of people huddled around the television which typically had some sort of talk show on. I could see the faces of the people who were staring at the screen in shock, disbelief and simply aw. The typical idle chatter amongst co workers were replaced by the announcer talking about how a plane had just hit one of the towers. I stopped and stared at the screen like everyone else when I suddenly caught a glimpse of the second plane hitting the tower. The people around me began to openly cry at what they had just witnessed. I quickly made a phone call to my best friend who was a radio show host and I asked him what he knew, and he said, I know what you know, I can't believe this.



I picked up my kids that day, brought them back to this tiny little apartment that I had, I wanted to talk to the kids about this but wasn't sure how to start. I remember my oldest Elizabeth who would have been about eight asked why does everyone hate us? This was not a question I was expecting and I tried to explain to her the best I could about how there are people that are simply pure evil in this world. I think all of our kids crew up on that day a little sooner than we wanted them to. I dropped the kids off, not knowing what to do or where to go after that, I didn't want to go home I wanted to be with people. I drove to downtown Grand Rapids, I rolled down the car windows and listened, I didn't hear anything. I pulled into a parking spot and got out of my car, The cool night air brushed against my skin and I got a chill. I strained to hear even to hear anything but there was not a sound. It was strange not to cars traveling down the freeway, there were no people on the streets, it was if time was standing still.

This photo was taken on September 11, 2002 at a memorial in the town of Wyoming, Michigan which is just outside of Grand Rapids. This shot was a one in a million shot it lasted about three seconds and then it was gone, each time I look at this it brings me back to that day and time and how I felt......I think how we all felt.

The best photo I have ever seen, I never took. I was in the Ford Museum and they had several displays on that first anniversary parts of the towers, letters from all over the world photographs lined the walls. I walked through the exhibit with tears pouring down my face and came upon a construction worker standing there looking at a photograph. He was a hulk of a man standing at least 6' 4" 250 lbs about two days worth of beard on his face, he had his hard hat under one arm, jeans on, work boots covered in dust and mud, and tears pouring down his face. I brought my camera to face looked through the view finder and thought, this is to personal, then simply turned and walked away.