Vanessa Gross

There are few days in my life that I can remember so clearly that I can replay, hour by hour, exactly what happened.

Like my wedding day— I can tell you what I did from the moment I woke up until I fell asleep in my husband’s arms that night.  Or the birth of my two children— I can actually give a play-by-play of the day before they were born up until the day after.  

They are moments that have left an impression on my life forever.  Just like Sept. 11. I remember, and will always remember that day and the days that followed. My husband was at work when I awoke. As I laid lazily in bed with our bulldog, Adel and our cat, Thomas, I was going over the agenda for the day.

That morning nothing was out of the ordinary for me and my posse of pets. With me yawning and trying not to get run over going down the hall as they raced to the kitchen to see who would be fed first, I felt happy. After we were all satisfied to continue on with the morning, I went into my living room and tried to vie for some room on the sofa and turned on the TV.

I flipped through the channels and left it on CNN. I called my mom as usual so we could discuss what was going on in the world, but she did not answer. I tried to make a few more phone calls, but no one seemed to be home. My attention was now completely focused on the tube.

What I saw next will forever be embedded in memory. I honestly did not believe my eyes. The first plane had just hit, my phone rang and it was my mom. She started chatting away as usual, and I didn’t hear a word she said. I got down on the floor and crawled closer to my TV and watched in horror what was going on. Unbelievable.

It took me a few minutes before I realized there was silence on the other end of the line. Then I heard my mom softly crying, “Oh my God, Oh my God.” When my mother and I both assured each other that what we were watching was real, our thoughts turned to our loved ones.  

It’s amazing how you worry about those you care about those who are thousands of miles away from where the tragedy is taking place. After I hung up with my mom, I called my husband. He worked within 25 miles of our house. But I still called him to make sure he was OK.  What another wife must have felt doing the same thing at that very moment but knowing her husband was at work in one of the towers. 

My sister, Joyce, was serving in the Navy at that time and my family did not hear from her for weeks after that because of national security. That was very difficult because she is my little sister and when she joined the service, I never worried about her serving until 9/11. She is in the Navy reserves now, but I never stop worrying about her or any of our troops.