September 11, 2001

Daniel and I were living in our townhome.  I was teaching 2nd grade at Sunshine Academy, and he was finishing up his credential at Masters and working at Valencia Valley Sunshine.  Dan left for Sunshine at 6, to open at 6:30.  I was getting dressed when he called me at 6:55.  He told me to turn on the TV.  He said that two planes had crashed into the World Trade Center.  I began to cry.  You see I hate -ABSOLUTELY HATE- to fly in an airplane, so of course this was especially chilling for me to understand.  "Dan, how could TWO planes crash?  Just minutes apart?  It isn't possible for two to drop out of the sky!  Something is WRONG!  I know it!!"

I remember hanging up the phone and pacing up and down the hallway in our little house.  How could this be?  I called Sunshine to see if they knew what was taking place.  They did.  I remember trying to put on mascara while tears fell from eyes.  I remember trying to take deep breaths and calm down.  As I drove to school, the radio commentators were reporting that there were two planes still unaccounted for.  I started praying out loud and asking God for mercy.  Mercy for the people on the planes.  Mercy for the people on the ground.  When I reached my classroom and turned on the radio, another plane had crashed.  And then another.  How in the world was I going to teach a group of 2nd graders today??

My girlfriend Kim and I were working together, and I remember holding her and weeping before class started.  I prayed and asked God for the strength to be "Tiffany" today and focus on the children instead of my disbelief and pain.  He granted me the grace.  I did it.  After the school day ended, I rushed home.  I remember running up the stairs and turning the TV on.  Both Peter Jennings and Tom Brokaw reported on the tragedy all night.  I just sat in horror listening to it all.  I must have watched them speak for seven hours.  I remember they had reported so long, that both men loosened their ties, eventually removing them and rolled up their sleeves to get more comfortable.

This morning, I sat and listened to the 3,000 names of the men, women, and children who were lost that day.  I was weeping today as I did 10 years ago.  It is still very difficult for me to try and comprehend such evil.  But you are still sovereign, Lord.  Thank you God for the reminder to savor each day.  To love and appreciate my husband and my sons.  To give you thanks for life and for breath.  May your peace cover the anguish of the families still mourning today.