Little Brown and Company, 2001

What were you doing on 9/11?

I remember it well. This was my experience on that tragic day.

I worked in Washington, D.C., on 10th Street. It started as a completely normal day. I parked my car at a park-and-ride, slugged into 14th Street, and walked the rest of the way to my office. I started my day sitting at my desk, catching up on emails. Then I heard some commotion in the office. My boss switched on the television to a news channel and turned up the volume. My coworkers and I gathered around.

The first plane had hit the towers in New York.

Oh, that must have been an accident.

But then we learned that a second plane had hit the Pentagon. Looking out our office window, we could see smoke rising from the Pentagon.

Then another plane went down in Pennsylvania. Everyone knew. This was an attack on the United States of America.

Rumors began circulating that another plane was coming.

At that point, we were let out of work. In fact, much of Washington, D.C., was being evacuated. Everyone was rushing. Everyone was looking up at the sky, wondering where the next plane might hit.

I didn’t know what to do. I was scared and numb.

Traffic was at a standstill. No one seemed to be able to leave the city. The cellphone networks were overwhelmed, and I couldn’t get ahold of my husband at the time.

Who would pick up the kids?

I walked around the city for a while, trying to figure out what to do. Finally, I approached a stranger who was sitting in his car, also trying to get out of the city.

I asked, “Which way are you going? Can you give me a ride to the park-and-ride where my car is parked?”

He agreed, and I got into his car with several other stranded people.We sat for hours, trying to leave D.C.As we passed the Pentagon, what we saw was unbelievable. Smoke. Emergency personnel everywhere. The side of the Pentagon had been crushed and badly damaged.

Everyone was shocked, in disbelief, and deeply saddened.

For weeks afterward, I watched the news coverage of that tragic day. I lost six pounds. I couldn’t eat or sleep.

How do you tell your children that the United States was under attack?

It was difficult for all of us.I still tear up today when I think about all the people we lost.

Thank you to the police officers, firefighters, rescue workers, and all those who risked their lives to save others—including the courageous search-and-rescue dogs and other animals who worked alongside them.

We must remember.

We remember the more than 3,000 people who lost their lives. We remember the families who lost loved ones. We remember the first responders who ran toward danger while everyone else was trying to escape.

To those we lost on 9/11: I will never forget.