I was at work. I worked in a graduate program in a university. It was early and I was alone in the office. A student came in and told me a plane just hit one of the twin towers. I was confused at first, trying to think how this could have happened. My first thought was an air traffic control error, but then I didn’t know why they couldn’t see the tower and change their course.

I called my husband, he was in class and forgot to turn off his cell phone, so as soon as it rang, he clicked it off. A few minutes later he called me back. I told him what happened and he said, “I bet it was terrorists.” We hung up and a couple of minutes later another student came in and told me about the second plane. Then I knew, too, that it was terrorism for sure.

I didn’t cry at first. I just felt really funny. Kind of nervous. I got on the internet and was reading the breaking news and then heard about the pentagon or the plane in Pennsylvania, I can’t remember which first. I do remember walking outside and looking up at the sky. It was so blue and so quiet.

I wanted to go get my son Will out of school. I just wanted him with me. I called the school and asked if the kids were being told and the secretary told me she thought they were only saying something to the fifth graders (he was in 3rd grade). I was worried that he’d be scared, but decided to leave him in school where I figured he’d be safe.

I remember when I went to pick him up from school everything was so quiet. No one was talking. The kids could sense something was wrong because they were all being pretty quiet, too. I picked Will up and told him there’d been a tragedy. That a lot of people died. He asked about details and I told him some.

After he came home and saw some of the news (we didn’t let him watch much)he got more scared. I remember he went into his room and got his pillow and blanket and toy squirt guns and layed on the floor in the living room with them. Somehow it was a comfort to him, but it was pretty pitiful to see.

I remember crying a lot and being on the verge of tears for a few weeks afterwards. The sky wasn’t and isn’t the same. I look up now and see and think different things.