Where Were You?

~~~~~~

 Alan Jackson's 

heartfelt song asks....

"Where were you when the world stopped turning

on that September Day?"

~~~~~~

Flashback September 11 2001...

Wichita Kansas

...it was just a typical morning for me.

I had gotten up and showered and was 

waiting for Keith

to come home from working night shift.

 I never listen to the radio or watched TV

in the mornings.

I saw him drive up so I went out to greet him

 but instead of the usual 

"Good Morning!" 

he said....with a strange look on his face

"have you heard? A plane hit  one of the

Twin Towers and then another one hit the

second tower!"

We ran to turn on the TV. 

We just stared at the screen

and tried to understand what we were seeing.

We were still sitting there staring 

at the screen when the first tower fell.

We weren't sure exactly 

what we were seeing.

It all seemed so surreal. 

Peter Jennings 

was talking and the screen was split 

with him on one side and the burning

towers on the other.

He didn't realize that as we were watching

him we could also see the tower falling

and for a few seconds he was oblivious to the scene

unfolding beside him. 

I kept the TV on all day. 

We ate our meals in front of the TV.

I cried.

Keith was speechless.

~~~~~

Less than two weeks later we had to

drive up to Canada.

We drove through Kansas

Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota,

and North Dakota.

All along our route

we saw American flags.

Flags everywhere!

~~~~~~

When we crossed the border into

Canada

it was the same.

 American flags

 flying beside 

Canadian flags.

We went into a store in Manitoba 

Canada to 

grab something to eat and we

were about to pay...

there on the counter was a 

donation can for the 

American Red Cross.

These cans were in every store we 

entered  across the border and the further north 

we went...

more American flags 

continued to fly.

Not just along the highway

and in the stores

but they flew

outside private homes.

For those who had no flag pole

they hung them on their fences

or where ever else they could be seen.

In their own quiet way

these Canadians showed support

for their neighbors to the south.

It made me very proud of my homeland.

~~~~~~

It's hard to believe that ten years

have passed.

My thoughts and prayers go

out to all those who lost loved

ones on that terrible day.

~~~~~~

Maura