09/11/2026
Where were you Sept 11, 2001?
I was 20 years old..studying abroad in Bath through a program affiliated with Oxford. There were 30+ Americans living all over the city of Bath in various houses...I happen to be living with folks from New York and Boston, in fact, one roommate’s dad was a fire fighter. We lived across the street from the bridge in pic below. Everyone in my house was in class but I was at the University of Bath using their free internet. I’d just booked a solo trip to see 9 countries in 12 days through Western Europe..I felt so independent and grown up! I got online to AOL instant-message with my mom and the first thing she typed to me...”where are you? Are you safe? Don’t book your trip. Get back to your house and tell your professors they think the US has been attacked.” This was before we lost internet connection. I was stunned. That was the longest bus ride back to my house.
That afternoon all of the students in the program from all over the East coast...huddled into the living room of my little house...glued to the BBC. We were getting all kinds of news...next attacks were going to be in Atlanta (CNN building...Norfolk Southern is next door, Lee works there), then to Chicago. We couldn’t get any calls into the US.
For 4+ hours, I held my roommates hands...we cried, prayed, tried to distract each other. The independence I’d just felt a few hours before, dashed. I just wanted my mama...to hear her voice and my dads, to know lee was ok. To talk to my cousin. But my new friends and I were United...no matter our differences. We were Americans, Democrats and Republicans, Christians, Jews, and nonbelievers...we were united, in love, fear, hope, and shared empathy.
Oh, to be united like that again, without such horrible circumstances ❤️❤️❤️
