I remember

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I remember waking up that morning at the same time we did most mornings, around 7:30. Daddy was already off to work. Madelyn was seven months old. We had been living in our home for barely three of those.

I remember we started that day like we did most every day. Pulling up the blinds, we would lay in bed backwards, watching the leaves sway from the tree outside the window.

I remember eating breakfast, feeding Madelyn, then putting her on the floor with toys. She was crawling by then.

I remember turning on the news like I do every morning. I remember watching video of a plane hitting one tower of the World Trade Towers. My husband called to ask if I had heard the news. What a terrible accident, we thought.

I remember the fifteen minutes in between, watching the reports, speculating. I remember still watching when the second plane hit. How my heart sunk.

I remember the terror I felt like I had never before. I remember calling my husband and telling him he should be home with us now. I remember holding Madelyn while I watched the TV, rocking her back and forth. Holding her tight.

I remember calling my Mom to talk about the horror unfolding. I remember telling her to call my father and brothers and get them out of the city. I remember wanting them all home so they would be safer.

I remember watching those two towers fall in less than a minute.

I remember all day fearfully watching the news, the uncertainty, the tears, and wondering what the future would hold.

I remember the police officers and firefighters and paramedics and kind citizens that helped that day and far beyond. 

I remember that nearly 2,819 people died that day in a terrorist attack that should not have. I know that the families of those people must live with that sadness forever.

I remember all of this, 10 years later.

I remember.