On September 11th I made a mistake and went to a HR class on dealing with difficult people. I was actually scheduled for the class the next day, but for some reason I thought it was that day.

Our class was on break and I was in the building’s cafeteria when the radio announced that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. Thinking it was just a plane crash, I didn’t really give it much thought.

Later on I realized I was at the wrong place and went back to my office. That is when the gravity of the situation was truly realized.

I worked on the 5th floor of a 10 story building and I had fears of planes positioning themselves around the country, ready to crash into tall buildings.

Lunch was spent at my husband’s office where we just watched the news on TV. I worried about my dad who was stationed in Germany at the time. By the evening we were glued to the TV, just watching the footage over and over.

I watched the footage, but at the same time I felt very far removed from the situation. My life went on, not really interrupted by the disaster that was to affect the entire country. Even now, six years later, it is easy for me to forget this date and the terrible nature of what happened.

But I think it is very important to remember, even if I am miles and miles away from ground zero. Which is why I always search out a particular eye witness account by Sarah Bunting. She posted three days after the account and it really puts into perspective the unbelief, the uncertainty, and the feeling of being lost in the minutes and hours after the buildings came down.

We don’t know what we’ve seen. Even seeing it, we didn’t — see it. It’s like Godzilla. It’s like Independence Day, like Deep Impact. It’s like the demolition footage of old Vegas hotels. And it’s like nothing we have ever seen before, or wanted to see, or thought or dreamed of seeing. It isn’t happening. It hasn’t happened. Nothing’s happening — what’s happening?

Sarah tells a story about her disaster buddy, Don, and I really hope she finds him again some day. I hope she keeps this entry up for years to come, because I find it more poignant than any news feed on any news channel.

Today I read and I remember.

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