It was still dark outside in Olympia, Washington. Our phone was ringing, we tried to ignore it, who would call at such an early hour?? It continued persistently ringing, and finally I answered it. It was my boyfriend’s mom, in tears, frantic, telling me to turn on the T.V. I woke up my boyfriend at the time, Tyler, and we made our way to the living room. I woke up my mom, who had stayed the night with us, and we turned on the T.V. I saw one of the Twin Towers in flames, we didn’t know what to think. Was it an accident? Yes, it must be an accident. In disbelief, we saw the 2nd plane hit, and the hair on the back of my neck stood up. It was one of those moments in life I will never forget. I worked at the local community college at the time, and I remember the student advisor calling me, asking if I felt that everyone should come into work. I said yes, I felt I couldn’t just sit at home all day, I had to keep busy. We went into work, it was a futile effort, we all just stayed glued to the T.V. Washington D.C., a plane hit the Pentagon, another one down in Pennsylvania. Towers were falling, I think we all knew on that day nothing would ever be the same. We tried for hours to get in touch with my aunt and uncle in New York, my uncle was on an airplane but we didn’t know which one. We found out later his plane was diverted to Atlanta and him and his colleagues rented a minivan and drove back to New York, as all planes were grounded. I also remember going out to dinner as planned that night for my birthday, and how quiet and somber the restaurant was. Nothing, nothing was ever the same.