Today

Today is 9/11. 7 years and four and a half hours ago, I was sitting at a computer in a small room in a school. Today, I am again sitting at a computer in a small room in a school. It is a different school, and I am definitely not the same person I was then.

Within hours of the disaster, I was in a Red Cross Shelter helping keep watch over children who had parents working in DC. Many of them were unable to get home at their normal hour because of the events. On 9/12, I was assigned to the Pentagon as an administrative assistant to one of the job directors. I did whatever needed doing: rolling socks in the Mass Care tents, hanging up cards, poems & pictures from students and families around the world, and getting food for those that couldn't leave their duty stations. I was there for just under 3 weeks; I taught every day, and worked at the Pentagon at night.

Today, I spoke to a small group of students at my current school about my experiences working at the Pentagon, and helped the students in the community service club I run sell red, white & blue braided strands in rememberance of those that not only lost their lives, but those that worked so hard to help everybody pick them up again.

And tonight, before I go home, I will put on the gray & white Disaster Services vest I wore at the Pentagon, and go answer phone calls from people evacuating because of Hurricane Ike. I am proud to be part of the American Red Cross for the last 22 years.