My day on 09/11/2001

September 11, 2001. That Tuesday morning I was at work at MHMR at our office building at what is now North Texas Regoinal Airport. My boss got a call from Kelli, the director of our MR program, whose office was in Denison. She told Richard to turn on a television and watch the news. I had the only TV in the building in my office. The TV was just stored in there; I had never even plugged it in. Richard called my office and told me to hook it up.

My office, which was large because I needed the space to work on computers, began filling up with staff as we watched events of the morning unfold. Like everyone we went from wondering what was happening to shocked disbelief to an inability to understand.

I had just started dating an American Airlines international flight attendant. I grabbed my cordless and went out in the hallway to call her. She answered the phone crying. All day people were in and out of my office.

My son, Jeremie, was staying with me that week. He was home on leave from the Navy. I don't remember if it was that day or the next but I came home from work and checked phone messages. My caller id identified one caller as "U. S. Government". I yelled out to Jeremie and asked him if he got a call. He yelled back, "yes". It was clear to me then that the military was contacting all their personnel, even those on leave.