story11408.xml

story11408.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2005-05-18

I am a social worker in the Kids Department of the State of Delaware. I was attending a unit meeting with about five other social workers; our supervisor was presenting policy updates and the latest data under review for our cases. Our discussion was interrupted by our Regional Administrator entering the conference room. She told us that she had just learned that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center, and that another had crashed into the Pentagon and that no one was certain what was happening. At first no one seemed to comprehend the event; our unit meeting continued another five or ten minutes, I think, before we were dismissed. But I could be wrong about that--the time factor is hazy. I was worried about my children in school, wondering if they were being sent home. I just know as soon as I could, I tried to find out more by going online (there are no TVs, and no one I knew had a radio available in my part of the office). I subscribe to the NY Times Direct, and as soon as I checked my mail, I saw several NY Times Direct News Alerts. When I opened them and saw the coverage--including the video clips of the actual crashes--I was heartsick. As the story continued to unfold, I was holding back tears. My father was in the Air Force and stationed at the Pentagon for many years before his death in 1989. The Pentagon being hit, for me, was an added immense blow. Later in the day I began to be concerned about my daughter scheduled to leave that week for her junior year in college abroad in the UK. I remember feeling that life would never go on as usual after that; that this was the beginning of the end of life as we have known it in the USA. I think I might have been right.