September 11, 2001 was the most glorious, beautiful day. The sun was shining, temperature absolutely perfect, birds chirping happily while I was preparing breakfast for guests. While coffee was brewing I called a business friend to ask her a question for my guest…I said, “Cathy, how are you this glorious morning?” She said, “fine except for the plane hitting the twin tower”. I shook as I reached to turn on the TV (first morning I didn’t have the Today Show on) I witnessed the second plane flying into the tower. I felt sick-Cathy and I continued to talk-she lived in Manhattan for years while I worked for a Manhattan Company for years-we both had friends, former co-workers still living there. I could hardly continue with breakfast…I called out to my guests to alert them as to what was happening. One woman was to take a train from Latrobe-I said, “Mary there won’t be a train coming” that is how I told her. When the plane went down in Somerset, I panicked as my friend was quilting in Somerset, and my friend Roger was working in Somerset…but where did the plane go down my mind wondered. Somerset County, borough or township! Then I heard the local fire alarms…I went out on my porch to the most eerie still glorious day. There wasn’t a bird, bee, fly, butterfly, dog, cat, person, or vehicle-I felt like I was in a grade B movie or before Godzilla was coming. My friends! I thought the plane missed Pittsburgh and feared germ warfare and we would all be dead. Here I was fretting that I was going to die with people who paid me money…I found out later the guests were thinking the same thing (here we are going to die in a Bed and Breakfast with someone we don’t know) I will never forget the fear of the day “We” were attack. Our life as we knew it was forever changed… I just prayed all the people who died didn’t suffer long. I just could not imagine what they went through in their last moments.
It may have not been good for me to watch every waking moments of the tragedy but I just couldn’t stop watching-sometimes feeling guilty while being thankful of being safe and sound in my home. The daily issues, feuds, irritations in our life really diminish in comparison to events of September 11th and the days and years following. God Bless America!