I remember. Do you?

Four years ago, at 8:45, I strapped Kevin into his car seat and ran off to the babysitter's house. I was running late- my first appointment was at 9:00 and it would take me at least 30-40 minutes to get there from my house.

I remember.

When I walked in the door of the babysitter's house, she was watching a high rise fire on TV, so I stopped to look. She was watching "Good Morning America". The newscasters then said "We are looking at live coverage of a fire in the World Trade Center, the result of an airplane which apparently accidentally crashed into the Tower. Eyewitnesses report it was a small commuter plane." I was in shock... but I knew I had to get to work, so I left.

I remember.

I got back into the car just before 9:00 and headed for my first appointment, listening to radio coverage of the plane crash. "OH NO! OH NO! NO! NOT ANOTHER ONE!" WHAT??? Another one? Oh NO! This was no accident, I thought. This was on purpose. Oh NO!!! Not in America! Not New York!

I remember.

I parked my car in the garage, and hurried off to meet my first client. She worked in the Multicultural Center, which had a big reception area. And a screen TV. A HUGE screen TV. The smoking Towers filled the screen. "Do you still want to meet?", she asked me. "Well, we might as well- I'm already here. But let's leave the conference room door open so we can see the TV."

I remember.

We started to talk about her 403(b). "Should I change my OH MY GOD- NO! Not the PENTAGON!" We cried. Two strangers...meeting for the first time to review investments... crying together, watching a tragedy unfold.

I remember.

We couldn't take our eyes off of the TV. We talked a little, but not about investments. We talked about the planes. We talked about the smoke. We watched the first Tower fall... together. And we cried again. Gasps escaped our mouths- cries of disbelief and horror. An eerie, shrill siren took over the newscasters voices. "What is that sound?", we asked each other. Then it dawned on me. "Oh God...it's the firefighter's locator beacons. If they don't keep mobile, the siren goes off, leading others to them to get them out of the fire." Please... Please... someone turn off those sirens.

I remember.

I left after the second tower fell, no longer able to concentrate on anything but the overwhelming desire to hold my children in my arms. Had it really only been an hour since I last held my youngest? It seemed like a lifetime. It was only 10am- was that possible? Within the last hour, four planes were used as weapons against the United States, killing thousands, and changing America forever.

I remember.

Each year, on September 11, I will remember that hour. I'll visit the 9/11 Memorial in Cincinnati. I'll touch the 2ft by 3ft piece of metal that was a part of the Towers... and I'll remember. I'll look around the Memorial Park, and remember marching in the first 9/11 Memorial Parade- carrying a flag printed with the words "Michael Fodor, Lieutenant FDNY Ladder 21 Missing". I'll cry tears for this firefighter I'll never know, but keep close to my heart always.

I remember.