Today-7 years ago

As so many have said, it started out as any other ordinary day. Little did any of us know how the events of that day would change our lives and history forever. It was one of those events where every one can recall exactly where they were and what they were doing when they first heard the news.

Seven years ago, I was a 24 year old single mom to Shalyn living in California. I was engaged and planning an October wedding to my fiance, Rob. I awoke and hurriedly got myself ready for work and Shalyn ready for school. Right as I was dropping Shalyn off at school, Rob called me and told me his interview scheduled for later that morning had been canceled because of what was happening in New York. Not having had any TV or radio on that morning I had no clue what was going on. So I lamely asked him what was going on, expecting it to be something trivial. He told me that planes had been hijacked and crashed into the twin towers and that they had collapsed. I was like, "Whaaattt?" In my mind that was impossible. I told him there was no way that could/would happen. I told him that he'd probably been dreaming and that everything was fine. I'd been to New York several times, seen the towers and there was no way they could just collapse. He kept repeating over and over again for me to turn on my radio. I did, and what I was hearing was unfathomable.

Hijackings were something that only happened in the Middle East or in Africa, not in the United States, or so I had previously thought. I was a flight attendant for a major airline in the late '90's. During training, we had a section on hijackings. We all listened, but in all honestly, it never once crossed our minds that it would be something we'd ever be faced with, inflight medical emergencies, mechanical issues with the planes, drunk passengers, weather problems, delays, yes, those were the problems we expected, a hijacking-never .

After dropping Shalyn off at school, instead of going to work, I drove home and turned on the news. After watching TV for a while, I figured I'd better get to work. I only worked an hour or two before leaving, unable to concentrate on my job.

One of the most surreal things that happened after 9/11 was something Rob experienced. When planes fly into the Bay Area, they fly over the hills near my parent's home. At night, you can look out and sometimes see up to 10 planes approaching the area. For the first several nights after 9/11, there were no planes to be seen with the exception of an occasional military plane. There was an eerie emptiness in the sky.

After 9/11, our country really came together, united in patriotism. People would look at each other and smile or make small talk. American Flags were everywhere. I have never experienced such strong a unity before or since then.

9/11 is a day that will always be remembered for my generation, just as 12/7 was for my grandparent's generation.