Chicago: 9/11/2001 I will Never Forget.

Embassy Suites Hotel State Street Downtown Chicago 9/11

I woke up pregnant with my first child, as well as with the excitement of what the day had in store for me. Chicago, my new home.
I kissed my husband goodbye, I watched him meld into the crowd of business suits, cell phones, taxis, and bicycles.
I glanced at the hotel bed, it called to me. My Chicago adventure will have to come later, I laid down with the TV tuned to the news.
I drifted back to sleep only to wake up to the news again, the tone had changed.
I could not believe what I was seeing LIVE on Good Morning America.
The second crash had just taken place right before my eyes. The crumble and the desperation were on display but it’s also what I felt right away.

Breaking News

“Chicago is under alert,” the local news chimes in. I looked out the Hotel window that gave me the view of the city streets, now my view had changed.
The streets are full but people are not walking they are running, they are running fast in their work shoes with briefcases clinched to their chests, some with cellphones pressed tightly to the side of their face.
I don’t know if my husband is amongst the sea of people I see, I just wait.
My optimistic impregnation has subsided. I no longer feel excited about the city, nor the future.
Instead, I fear I’ve made a mistake to give my unborn child this life, she doesn’t deserve to see this.
Will she see this?
Will we move on?
What’s going to happen next?
I want to go home.

But we did it. We made it through one of the most difficult times.

We are resilient especially when we stand strong, together.
When someone messes with us we bridge together, we extend our hands out to one another blind to red & blue and black & white.
Those hard days that followed showed me that people, strangers, care for each other.

If we can take anything away from 9/11, it is that we can stand tall together.
We need to stop letting the invisible lines in the sand hold us back, smooth those lines out, extend a hand.