This is not the column
I’d originally planned for today.
The other column, which will run another time,
was about organizing closets for the change of seasons. In view
of Tuesday’s terrorist attacks, an essay on fall clothes
seems trivial, if not completely disrespectful.
Like everyone else, I am still trying to process
the hellacious events of the past week. And just as surely as
I remember exactly where I was when President Kennedy was shot,
I’ll never forget how I felt 
on
September 11, 2001.
That morning began like any other. I made the bed,
took my Vitamin C, brushed my teeth, and started my computer.
It wasn’t until I phoned a neighbor that I learned our country
was under attack – and that our lives would never be the
same.
Babbling the news to my husband, I turned on the
television in the kitchen. I perched at the counter, clutching
a paper napkin, and wept as I watched the surreal film footage
of planes crashing into the World Trade Center. I felt like a
very small child who’d just heard her first tornado warning.
And just like everyone else, I took a quick mental
inventory of everyone I knew who could possibly be in harm’s
way.
-Close calls
My brother-in-law, Don, was attending a business
meeting just a few blocks from the World Trade Center. As he
told us later, he’ll never forget the horrific sight of
the second plane crashing into the second Trade Center tower
as he watched from a window. Thankfully, Don left the area on
time, and began his long drive back to New Jersey through a maze
of incredible traffic.
Across the ocean, my friends Norma and Jan were
in a plane en route from a vacation in London. Norma’s husband
told me that Norma and Jan had been in the air just an hour when
their pilot announced an air emergency in the U.S., then rerouted
the plane back to Gatwick Airport. (As I write this, I await
news of their safe return to Detroit.)
Meanwhile, schools, county buildings, and shopping
malls throughout America were closed. While some businesses remained
open, it was not, as President Bush said, business as usual.
-Pulling together
For all the grief and anger I’ve battled all
week, I have also been inspired by stories of courage and generosity.
I’ve been moved to tears hearing about emergency
crews risking their own lives to save others. I’m awed at
how many people are giving blood, and how many businesses are
donating food and supplies to the victims. Though I rarely wax
patriotic, I am proud to be an American through it all –
proud of the way we’ve pulled 
together
and prayed together.
Looking outside on Wednesday morning, I fought
back another wave of tears as I noticed that quite a few of my
neighbors were flying American flags from their porches. Later
that day, my teenage son posted our flag above the front door,
too.
Throughout the week, I’ve remained glued to
Peter Jennings and the TV set, taking breaks only for meals.
And whenever I drive, I keep the car radio tuned to the news.
I want to believe the danger is “over” – yet I’m
poised for something else to happen.
I want to feel brave; I want to feel protected;
I want to feel safe again. This week, though, it’s been
hard to feel any of those things.
*Cindy La Ferle is an award-winning, nationally
published columnist based in Royal Oak, MI. In 
addition
to her weekly Sunday column in The Daily Tribune of Royal Oak,
Cindy's inspirational essays are published periodically in Mary
Engelbreit's HOME COMPANION, on national newsstands. Cindy is
also a member and co-chair of Detroit Women Writers -- one of
the nation's oldest professional writers' groups Visit her Web
site at http://www.laferle.com
