Where were you on September 11?

Well, at least I have a calendar up here and can see that tomorrow is the 4th anniversary of 9/11.

On September 11th, I was waking up early in my RV, parked at a KOA campground in the middle of Nebraska. I was watching the Today Show, making hard boiled eggs and tea.

While on the road on September 11th, trying to figure out where I was going, I stopped into gas stations along the way to watch events unfold on the television, to ask people what they had heard, to figure out if I was heading toward safety or danger.

I was initially on my way to Manhattan to start a book tour but opted for a detour away from the East Coast, ending up at the home of a friend's mother in Salina, Kansas for a few days. Then I headed to Richmond, Virginia to stay with my sister for a month.

When I returned to Manhattan, dark jets flew low overhead and on the day I arrived and switched on the television in my tiny studio apartment on the Upper West Side, the regular program was interrupted by news of anthrax discovered at the NBC studios.

That's when I knew I'd be moving out of the city permanently. That's when I decided Wyoming was a much safer place.

Comments

[Lynn]

On September 11th, I was at my therapist's office having my weekly session and trying to come to terms with my depression over my losses and fertility treatments. I was also waiting anxiously for the results from the blood test I had, to find out if we were going to be riding that incredibly nerve-wracking rollercoaster ride of pregnancy. Because of my appointment, I wasn't at my job at the State Department that morning, which was lucky...I would've been trapped down there for who knows how long. Watching the events unfold, my eyes puffy from all the crying I was doing, I remember thinking that I couldn't bother God with my prayers for myself right then. He was busy with other matters. I did get the call from my doctor's office the next day. Negative. I'm not sure if that was a good or bad thing; it would have been nice to have a bit of hope blooming in the womb in the midst of all that chaos.

[Liz]

I was in West Yellowstone, Montana --- I had just left my life in San Francisco, heading back home to Colorado. My uncle didn't have a TV, but the phone started ringing early in the morning, and we listened to NPR until the neighbor invited us over. In our pajamas, we were riveted to the TV all day. For the next three weeks, anytime we wanted the news, we headed to the local bar to watch the evening news and have a beer. I'm so glad I was away from the TV for those weeks - and was so glad I'd made the decision to leave the big city and head back to the mountains.