The Bug and The Drama Queen

5 years later....

Wow....I can't believe it's been 5 years since the attacks on the trade centers, and on America.

I know it is a day that I will NEVER forget.

I was living in Virginia...working near D.C.

Started out with me at work at Pullen Moving Co. I was a move coordinator for government contracts overseas.

I was sitting there, surfing the internet...planning my wedding that was 3 months away.

I had my radio playing 97.1 .....I heard about the 1 st attack and thought..."what is going on? How could that pilot NOT see the tower?"

My phone rings...it is my friend Leigh...we chat a bit. I go to MSNBC.com and watch the breaking news.

My mom calls. We talk about how weird it is.....another plane hits.

My mom says not to worry. We are safe. we talk some more. I say "mom....be careful...please.."

Her response (and Ill never forget it) " Oh kristi....I am in the pentagon...I don't think there is a safer place you CAN be"

"I know mom...but you never know...."

"I know dear....I'm safe don't worry...I love you"

"Love you too mom"

We hang up.

Another friend calls.....I am chatting with this freind when a co-worker runs into my office...."emergency call on line 1 for you kristi"

I answer....

It's Brad. Crying..HYSTERICAL......"A plane just hit the pentagon" he yells in my ear

"huh?" my stomach hits the floor and I almost pass out.

I sit down. "slow down Brad are you o.k?"

"A plane hit the pentagon baby...a plane just crashed into the the pentagon call your mom!!"

I hang up and call my moms line....

nothing.

no ring

no dial tone

no busy signal.

nothing

I try calling Brad back.

Can't get through.

All lines are tied up.

I am freaking out.

I am thinking.......I am getting married in 3 months...and my mom might not be there! ( I know it's a selfish thought...but it was all I could think of at the time...my mom being my best friend, I couldnt IMAGINE going through with it, without her there)

No one knew at this point, that the pentagon had been hit... not the media....... no one....he was working in a hotel right next to the pentagon and saw the plane almost hit them and go into the pentagon.

I run in to my bosses office and literally collapse on the floor. She is like 'whats wrong?' I am crying so hard at this point.

"A plane hit the pentagon" i manage to get out.

She looks at me like I am crazy.

Then they announce it on the radio behind her and she runs to me....holding me and rocking me.

She tells me to settle down, and the whole office congregates into her office to seek comfort among our "family" away from family.

An hour later my step dad Cody shows up to bring me home. He just KNEW to come and get me. I couldnt drive.

We went back to their house. Cody told me over and over not to worry. She was safe.

All we could do was sit and wait. And try not to turn on the news.

Brad showed up 4 hours later. As soon as I saw him...i broke down again.

Still no news from my mom.

He told me of how he was standing there talking to his friends when they looked out of the window and saw a plane heading straight for them. They threw themselves to the floor, as the plane rushed right over them.shaking the building and causing a deafining roar. Before it slammed into the side of the pentagon. He immedietly called me.

My mom finally showed up sometime that evening. Only she wasnt the same mom. She seemed ......smaller.

quieter.

different.

She lost friends that day. And I think she lost a part of herself along with it. Her life was forever changed. Our lives were forever changed.

Later I found out....Cody fibbed to protect me....cause the plane DID hit her side of the building (and he knew it) and she was lucky to have made it out alive. She was 2 corridors over as I recall.

I remember looking up into the sky and not seeing or hearing a SINGLE plane. And in D.C near Dulles, Reagan, and BWI...thats saying something. They were all grounded.

So many lives were lost that day.

Mothers, Fathers, Sisters, Brothers, Friends, Uncles, Aunts, Grandparents, sons and daughters.............

One thing this tragedy did though....was UNITE us.....the way we should AlWAYS be. It made us go home and hug our kids a little tighter. Talk a little more. Help someone you didnt know. Do something out of the oridinary. Snuggle on that couch with your loved one instead of watching primetime t.v.. It made us VALUE our life.

D.C was changed for about 3 days after that. People let you in, in traffic. People didn't honk their horns and flip you off. You said hello to everyone with eye contact. Crime went down. Lives were cherished.

I won't forget the hero's that died that day. EVER.

My question....Why did it take something so tragic to bring us together.....and why is it SO hard to keep us that way?

5 years later....are we united?