9/11

It's September 11th. I'm not going to dwell on the country's biggest terrorist attack and the devastation it left behind (although I'm sure I'll watch anything the History channel has to offer on the topic).

When it happened, I was oblivious. I was actually torturing mice in our research facility and had no contact with the outside world. I guess I'm a mouse terrorist. I was snipping tails for DNA analysis and tagging ears (basically giving them earrings with ID numbers on it). When I came back downstairs to my desk, my husband called to tell me the country was under attack. I could barely believe it. It's one of those moments that you always remember where you were, like the assassination of JFK (not born), and the Challenger disaster (Mrs. Murray's first grade class, watching the explosion on TV). We went down to the big lecture hall and they put CBS News on the big screen. It really did look a bit like a movie, and watching it with a big audience make it even more so. I remember a friend yelling because Dan Rather was talking as if the World Trade Center was still standing when it had clearly fell.

I got freaked out. Period. End of sentence. I cut out of work early, as I was nearly 22, immature, and liked to do that. Quite often. I watched the coverage on TV the rest of the day, just pausing long enough to call my mom so she could call my uncle and make sure my cousin wasn't traveling that day. So much has changed since then.

My then boyfriend, now husband, worked at Delta Air Lines then. He spent the next few days while the flights were grounded guarding airplanes. I ask you: what could he have done if a terrorist did try to steal one of the planes? Throw his cell phone at them? A year later, he got laid off, as a lot of people did. The terror attacks really did have far reaching effects, big and small.

Sixteen days after the attacks, my uncle died in his sleep.

Since 9/11, I've gotten married, had three kids, and am a completely different person.

Something to think about: What would those 2,977 killed in the attacks be today? Would one of them have become President? Would one have invented the cure to cancer? How many children would have been born to those people?

Every person is someone. Every person means something. Treat others like you want to be treated, and be nice to people. Tell your family and friends you love them, because you never know when they'll be gone.

One of my favorite books: