This Date in History...

I remember what I was wearing and where I was standing the moment I heard a plane had crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

• Blue linen blend suit with a yellow shirt with blue pinstripes and french cuffs, brown penny loafers
• In the bathroom in my apartment in California, putting on the finishing touches, with NPR on the radio in the background

I remember that I hadn't spoken to a member of my family in more than a year and that day I picked up the phone to make sure they were okay. The conversations were brief: my dad was pissed and vowing to get the bastards who did this. My mom was sad. I later learned my sister panicked and had to be driven from her office in Alexandria to my dad's office in Springfield. My brother apparently stood in front of the television and cried.

I remember getting on the train to go to work in San Francisco and hearing the train operator say she'd heard a report that a fourth plane had crashed into Camp David. Then she said, "I know you all may not believe in God, but may He bless us today."

I remember a friend of mine calling from the parking lot of her office building in San Jose where their buildings were directly in the incoming flight path for SJO and saying they were being told to turn around and go home.

I remember meeting up later with this friend, watching events unfold on t.v., crying together, and then finally deciding, if we were going to die that day, we wanted to do it somewhere beautiful and serene. We got in the car and went to the beach.

I remember days later, when flights resumed, seeing a plane on approach to San Francisco International. The plane banked much like the plane that flew into the North Tower banked, and feeling myself gasp in horror.

I remember the first time I met someone who'd lost a family member at Ground Zero and the emptiness I felt for her.

I remember six months later being in New York on business and seeing the Towers of Light and realizing that I couldn't even begin to imagine how horrific it must have been to actually be at Ground Zero.

I remember going to Ground Zero and seeing the gaping hole where once buildings stood. On the side of an adjacent office building, an enormous American flag and the words "Never Forget."

I remember.