Where were you when the world stopped turning?

It seems strange that it was 7 years ago ... I remember waking up and getting Devin ready for second grade and Shelby for kindergarten. I usually watch Good Morning America in the morning and the local news... but this morning, I had to get Spencer ready to go to an eye exam at BAMC (Brook Army Medical Center) after I dropped off the kids at school. After dropping off Devin & Shelby, I started driving downtown. Listening to the radio, I heard the unbelieveable news that a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade towers in New York. When I arrived at the hospital and walked in, every TV monitor in the building had the horrific images, and people were standing just staring at the screen ... I checked in for Spencer's appointment, and just stared at the TV while waiting to be called. While Spencer & I were in the examination room with the eye doctor, one of her techs came in the room and told us the towers were falling! I looked at her and said, "I think my husband is going to be home late." She wasn't sure how he would get off base, and then said, "You better go home too, I'm not sure what this base will be like." I quickly looked at the TV's on my way out, stunned by the image of the towers crashing down, and headed out of the hospital. As I left the army post hospital, they were closing gates that I had never seen before (at that time Fort Sam Houston in San Anotnio was a pretty open army post, not checking ID's as you came in, and open to the public)... When I got home, I just stared at the TV. Then I called a friend whose husband also worked at Wilford Hall - she didn't have cable, so didn't really get TV channels, her twins were the same age as Spencer. I told her to turn on her TV and try to find a channel. We talked about what had happened, and how it would change everything... After talking with her, I called my mom. Still in shock, I went to pick my children up from school that afternoon... For the second time in two years (the first was when a US ship was hit by terrorist, I think), I had to explain to my children why the flag at the school (and ALL over town) was at half mast. The next few days continued with more news of the Pentagon, and Pennsylvania flights, and more unbelievable images. I tried to not let my children see the images and listen to the news, but it was everywhere ... Flights were stopped all over the country for about a month. In October, when flights were going again, Darren & Devin flew to Utah to go on the deer hunt. When Darren called me from Utah to tell me they had made it safe, he told me what Devin had said on the plane. It broke my heart, he was too young to have to think about that! He looked at the pilot and said, "Dad, I don't think he looks like Osma bin Laden", and then asked if they were flying over the capital or any tall buildings ... That was upsetting to me ... Although I didn't know anyone personally who had perished in those attacks that day, it has affected my life and changed the way we live ... I'm proud of my husband serving in the military. I pray he never gets deployed. I respect and love all the families I have come to know whose loved ones are deployed. Now that I live in Europe, I'm gaining a new knowledge and respect for WWI and WWII ... As I visit battleground, and read about the Berlin airlift, it fills me with pride to be an American. I'm sadden by what the world has come to, but filled with hope because of our great country.