I was sitting at my desk in my office when my coworker said a plane had hit one of the towers in New York. My immediate reaction – well, that is sad, but those small prop jobs crash all the time. So, what else is on my schedule for the day?

Then, more and more people in my office starting talking. It seems as if it was a big plane. Someone said something about a terrorist attack, but I was thinking – aren’t we just a bit paranoid?

Then, the news said that it was true. A second plane had hit the other tower. This is clearly not an accident. I ran over to the pizza place next door to see what they were saying On TV. Several of my friends came over with me. As I watched the television, a tremendous fear washed over me. As well as tremendous sadness. It was hypnotic. I could not take my eyes off the screen which played over and over again the image of the burning towers.

The rest of day was surreal. It was like the entire city has been silenced. People were being let go from work early, the streets were empty. And then it hit me. My parents were flying this morning. They were supposed to be flying an American Airlines flight that left at 8am. Could they be next? The phone lines were all down. I could not get through to call. Several hours later – I heard that they were OK. They landed in Dallas only a few minutes after the first plane hit. I felt guilty that so many had died, and here I was celebrating that my parents had lived. They were OK.

As the day continued the news came in of the pentagon, the other plane crash, the towers collapsing etc. Bad news just kept pouring in. And as I went to bed that night, I remember praying for the people of New York, their families, our country and our world and praying that one day this will all end.