September 11 Memories

Today is the sixth anniversary of that awful day, September 11, 2001.

I will never forget that day because it affected me personally. I lived through it.

I work for a federal agency in downtown Washington, D.C. As a matter of fact, twenty-nine years ago today, I began my career in the federal government. Back then, the world was simpler and I had a rather simple view of my life. Gee, things were a lot easier then.

But on September 11, 2001, I was at work in my office. I have a big window that looks out onto the Capitol dome.

It was a beautifully clear late summer day. I had arrived at work late that morning. Lovey had taken my car keys with her and I had to wait for her mother to arrive at my house to bring my extra set. I then got caught in a big traffic jam at the Pentagon, which is a normal occurrence.

I had just gotten settled into my normal routine, when one of my employees came to me and said, "Frank, I just got a call from my ex-wife. She told me the strangest thing. A small plane has crashed into the World Trade Center."

I was amazed. The office was abuzz. Just then, word filtered down that another plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. Something strange was happening.

Another of my employees had a portable TV and she was watching everything. A large group of us were gathered around trying to figure out what was happening. I telephoned Lovey, who had not heard anything about the drama. She turned on her radio and began telling everyone at her office about the crashes.

Not long afterwards, journalists began reporting about a mysterious explosion at the Pentagon. It would be a while before people knew it was an airplane. I went to the roof of my office building with my digital camera. From there I could see the black smoke rising from the Pentagon.

It was bad.

By then it was reported that a plane had hit the Pentagon and that there were other planes. We were under attack.

The federal government closed all agencies in Washington. A mass tried to leave my building, but due to gridlock, nothing was moving. I went to my desk and calmly called my children's schools to let them know that their parents were okay. Since I had to cross a major bridge to go back to my house, there was no way that I was going to get stuck in traffic...or worse....become a sitting duck on the 14th Street Bridge.

At that moment, security called my desk to let me know that Brokeback was downstairs. I went down and he looked as though he had seen a ghost. He was a wreck.

Security let him through and we went to my cafeteria, which by that time was giving food away. We went to my office and just waited for traffic to thin out.

Around 1:30, the streets looked empty. Brokeback said he would drive me home because he didn't want to be alone. So we headed down I-395 to my home....and we passed the Pentagon. Debris and dust were still flying, but the road was empty. We were the only car on the road.

I got home well before the kids got home from school and I remember watching ABC News coverage with the late Peter Jennings.

When my babies got home.....I wrapped them in my arms....and held them close.

It was a defining moment.