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Words fail me as I attempt to describe what happened during Storm Alfred.  We knew we were getting an unusual storm that would cause snow and freezing rain.  This type of weather is certainly not uncommon for New England.  Unfortunetely for us, the leaves had not fallen off of the trees therefore making the weight of the snow too much for limbs and trees to withhold.

Two days before Halloween it started to snow.  The first snowfall of the season for me has always been exciting as we venture to the next season.  It snowed most of the day then tapered off to near nothing.  The temperatures began to drop.  When the snow first starts to fall there is a certain silence that overcomes every neighborhood.  As the night started to fall we lost power.  We this happened a mere two months before we thought we were better prepared this time.  Nightfall came and darkness came over the neighborhood and town.  The silence was soon replaced by the cracking of limbs and trees from the weight of the snow.  None of us would know the devastation until the next morning when the sun came up.

Since one of my hobbies is to take pictures I found this was the best way to document what happened.  We had no idea what we were in for.  We lost power for ten days.  People came from all around the United States to help.  Shelters were set up in every town to help feed people and give them shelter.  The most moving sight was seeing a crew from Canada with an American flag flying from the back of the truck.  The crews were not only helpful but did it with smiles.  They worked tiredless into the nights.  We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Ten years ago being pregnant with my first child should have been a happy day.  However  it has been ten years from today since I watched the towers tumble to the ground and witnessed the United States under attack.  Some days it feels like it was just yesterday while others it feels like a lifetime ago. 

Ten years ago I was about 6 weeks pregnant with my first son Walker.  Both of my sons will never know how impressive the towers were and have only heard about the tragic day of 9/11.

As I was buried with work I heard a co-worker say a small plane hit the world trade center.  Like many other employees that day we logged onto CNN to see live coverage of what was going on.  It never occurred to any of us what was unfolding in front of our eyes. 

All of a sudden the same co-worked said ,”Oh my god… the other tower has been hit”.  Frankly… it still never occurred to me that we, as a country, we under attack.  Shorty after that the Pentagon was hit.  We were stunned and frozen in time.  We all started to think of friends and family in the targeted areas and the phones were ringing and e-mails were flying through. 

At the time I worked for a supervisor that was also in the Army Reserves.  When he went running out of the building that morning we began to realize how serious the situation had become.

Firefighters, Police Officers, all arms of the military and people from around the United States started banning together to stand united.  We were sure at the time who or what our enemies were.

I was six weeks pregnant and I was beginning to wonder what kind of world I was bringing a baby into.  The terrorist desperately tried to break the American people.  They took buildings and lives but they could not break our spirit.  Though we lost many lives in this attack, we as a country survived. 

I now look at my 9 year old son and know that he will never know that fateful day but only hear about it through anniversaries and remembrance ceremonies.  I hope my children will appreciate how brave people were on that day.  I remember and will be sure to tell the story of how I witnessed everyday Americans come together for the greater good.

I will never forget and I will make sure my children don’t either.

Here are my thoughts from my 2007 journal entry.