By Cherry Pedrick, RN
We had just packed the car and were prepared to travel from our home in Las Vegas to take our son back to Seattle, when the whole world changed.
Our neighbor yelled across the street, "You're not going to the airport, are you?" "No, we're driving, why?" "Because the airports are closed." "Airports - what do you mean they are closed? Which airports?" "All of them! Turn on your TV."
We went inside and turned on the TV. And that's when life changed. The world changed. A plane had hit one of the World Trade Center towers, and then a second tower had been hit. Then the scene changed to Washington DC. The pentagon was hit by a third plane. This couldn't be happening! Not here, not in America. As we stared at the TV, I prayed. I prayed for the injured, the firefighters and police, the families, New York, Washington DC. I prayed for my family, for America, for the world. For this new world.
What shall we do now? The car was packed. College awaited our son. My elderly aunt in Oregon awaited our visit along the way. So we loaded the cats (yes, we travel with three cats), locked the door, and began our trip. The radio linked us to our new world. All planes were grounded. A plane was missing - no, two planes - no, just one plane, it crashed in Pennsylvania. Flight 93. Only later would we hear the tragic and heroic story that "Flight 93" now automatically brings to mind.
Our days were spent traveling through the West, glued to the radio, our nights glued to the TV. Reno, Klamath Falls, Portland, Seattle, then back to Las Vegas. The story followed us; it was everywhere. We left our son at college in Seattle. How could we leave him? We left him in God's hands, much more capable than ours.
At first, the tragic events didn't bother me as much as I would expect. I wondered why. They weren't real. They were images on TV and in newspapers. It couldn't be real. When my husband and I arrived home, we unloaded the car, fed the cats, and went out for Chinese food. That night we fell into our chairs in front of the TV. I looked at my husband and said, "It's real, it's in my living room, not just on the TVs in the motel rooms."
