I was getting ready for work, early, and the phone rang.

It was Mom, back east.

I turned on the tv.

Just then a second plane hit.

I couldn’t process what was happening.

A tower collapsed.

All those people.

All those lives lost.

I couldn’t make sense of it.

The sky was empty and silent.

Even the birds were grounded.

I needed stories.

I needed to hear about the people.

It was too big to grasp.

I needed human faces to make it real.

I kept my child away from the tv.

He saw anyway.

He crashed block towers.

Just like the bad men.

I was heartsick.

How could I protect him?

How could any of us feel safe?

September 11 changed us.

September 11 changed the world.