by Ann Scott

Created on: September 11, 2008

We did not turn the television on that morning until later. My husband and I had a habit of going to a little restaurant near our home for a small breakfast and coffee, and to visit with other folks we knew who went there. We had readied ourselves for the morning's ritual and had just gotten to the restaurant.

We chose a table, which was in a different area from where we usually sat, and closer to the one at which the local loafers always sat . We had ordered our breakfast and were waiting for it, when one of the men that we knew spoke to us, then told us about the horrible event. I will never forget, as long as I live, where we were and what that man said to us that morning. He asked if we'd heard the news, and we told him that we had not. He said, "The United States is under siege!" Inquiring more about it, we heard more than we wanted to hear.

I remember just how I felt upon hearing the news. I don't know about anyone else, but I am sure they were feeling something like what I was feeling. It was hard to even understand, that something that horrible had happened in our own country. We visited awhile longer, ate our breakfast, and came back home to check it out for ourselves. I was hoping that for some reason, yet I knew it was not so, that the man way just kidding with us.

As we watched the news flashes, it was even worse than it sounded when talking to those who had told us about it. The whole day as the news kept playing over and over all the pictures of the planes, the horror of the falling debris, the terror of the people who were running for safety, and the havoc, it was just so unbelievable that such a thing had occurred. We kept asking ourselves, "why, why, did this happen."

Our country had been so blessed through the years, and our people had been so wrapped in luxury and the good life, that we could scarcely take it all in. We heard stories of how some were saved because of the fact that they had made an out-of-the-ordinary stop somewhere on their way to work, for something that was not a usual occurrence. Miraculously they were spared from the utter destruction. Thousands of others, however, were not so fortunate. Many precious children, and many other wonderful people, who worked in the twin towers lost their lives in the holocaust.

Then we began to hear stories of other planes, one of which had struck the Pentagon. There was also the plane which crashed in Pennsylvania and was unsuccessful in its efforts, due to the actions of a brave passenger,

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