September 11, 2001

After watching the film United 93 the other night, I decided to write my (late) entry about how I experienced 9/11. I've watched both the A&E movie, Flight 93, and now the version that came out in theaters a while back. I haven't seen World Trade Center with Nicolas Cage yet, but plan to someday. Both movies that I did see made me mad all over again about this senseless tragedy! Mad at men that believed they were following God's will by killing thousands of Americans. And, of course, it was terribly sad. As all senseless tragedies are...

On the morning of September 11th, I had been keeping a big secret from my co-workers. We found out we were pregnant sometime near the beginning of August. After our first doctor visit to confirm the pregnancy, we decided to wait to tell anyone until we told our parents first. And, I really wanted to tell my parents in person, which wouldn't be until Labor Day Weekend. So, that's what we did. When we went to Kingsville on that weekend, we told my family. After returning to Dallas, I waited a few days before informing my boss. When I finally did, he was very supportive and understanding. I had been feeling very nauseous those first few weeks, so he was sympathetic to my late arrivals and general slowness in the mornings. He told me he would leave it up to me to let our team know whenever I was ready. So, on the morning of September 11th, after another slow start, I decided I better let them in on the news before they wondered why I'm always dragging myself into work later than usual. I was driving from Richardson to Addison a little before 9 pm when I heard some initial reports on the radio about a plane hitting one of the World Trade Center towers. I immediately called Sammy (who was also still at home) & told him to watch the news. I told him I didn't know what was going on, but that they thought a plane had accidentally crashed into the tower. I didn't hear much more after that, until I got to work that day. I made it my first priority to sit down at my desk & send out a mass e-mail announcement to everyone in my group. And, that's exactly what I did. When I was done, someone told me to come with them to the screening room. Everyone was packed in the tiny theater watching the news unfold on the big screen. Apparently, another plane had hit the second tower on live television and we were starting to realize that this was an intentional attack. So, for a good portion of that morning, we stood in the screening room watching the news coverage of the attacks and quietly sobbing. Publicis had a major office in downtown New York and we knew several employees from there. Obviously, we were worried about their safety. So, after returning to our desks to check on some of our New York co-workers, some of my teammates finally saw the e-mail I had sent that morning. I got a few very monotone & robotic sounding "congratulations", since everyone was in a state of shock. It wasn't until several days later that people would actually be able to show a little more excitement & enthusiasm about my pregnancy. Of course, in hindsight, announcing my big news on that day wasn't a smart decision. It was a terrible, tragic day of mourning. However, I was stubborn & wanted to go ahead with my plan that I had already made.

So, when I remember 9/11/2001, I will always remember that was the day I stubbornly decided to make my big announcement about new life amidst so much death & destruction. I cringe when I realize how selfish that mush have seemed.