I Remember...

...hearing the first radio reports of a fire in one of the World Trade Center towers. The sports talk hosts didn't think it was too big of a deal.
...that by the time I got to work there was a second fire, and the sports talk hosts were beginning to think it was a big deal.
...that the Pentagon was hit and everybody knew it was a big deal.
...that there were pilots' wives skipping their Bible study standing around a television set I'd hooked up in my office. They were all scared and most wouldn't hear from their husbands for hours after the planes grounded.
...that somebody ran into my daughter's school lunchroom, grabbed their child, and yelled, "We're at war!" and took their kid home.
...that we had a staff meeting to plan a time of prayer that evening instead of our normal routine.
...the latent respect that rose again for firefighters and policemen.
...that picture of the Statue of Liberty with Manhattan burning in the background.
...the silence in our town's skies (DFW keeps jet noise almost a constant hum in our community, which is very close to the north entrance) for a couple of days. It was creepy.
...watching the same cable news stories late into the evening even though there was really nothing new to report. I couldn't take my eyes off it.
...how quickly the phrases "Ground Zero," "Terror Alert Level," "Dirty Bombs," "South Tower," "North Tower," "Global War on Terrorism," and "Al Qaeda" stayed in my conscience.

8:46AM
9:43AM
10:06AM

2,749 names that all mean something to somebody more than a list of names on a sheet of paper.

I have not forgotten.

Nor will I ever.

Has it really been six years?

*Diner pauses all day for a moment of silence in memoriam*