I drive a school bus in Loudoun County Va. about 20 miles west of Washington D.C. I did my morning run then went home for the mid-day. I turned on the news as I always do and then watched in horror as the towers fell. Our schools did not dismiss early because many of the parents of our students work in D.C. and would be caught up in the gridlock… we didn’t want to send children home to empty houses to watch tv without their parents support. The students weren’t told what had happened but some news leaked out mostly due to some parents coming to get their kids before school dismissed. The kids didn’t have all of the facts but they knew that something terrible had happened. When one of my middle school students boarded my bus in the afternoon, she asked me if “today would be in the history books?” “Yes, dear, it will most certianly will”. My bus route at the time was transporting middle and high school students. There are never parents waiting for these kids at the bus stops.. (how embarrassing that would be). There were parents at ALL of my stops, parents gathering their chicks, counting, hugging… I understood, I had done the same, checked with my parents and my grown children, none of which were ever anywhere near danger.