September 11 overseas

On September 11 my husband and I had just moved to Geneva, Switzerland to start an assignment at the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. That day I received a call from my husband letting me know that two planes had flown into the World Trade Center and no one knew why.

We were still unpacking at our apartment so I went to a neighbor’s place to watch the TV coverage. I watched in disbelief as the towers collapsed. Then I learned another plane had flown into the Pentagon.

I will never feel the utter horror I felt that day, not knowing if the attack was over or if my friends in Washington D.C. were still alive.

But I also remember the mounds of flowers placed at the gate to the U.S. Mission the next day and the days afterward.

After that day I have never walked down a street without a lurking awareness that an attack could come at any moment. I enjoy my days but this new knowledge is a lasting legacy of that day.