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Carrie Adams
By CARRIE ADAMS
Intensive Care Nurse, Carle Foundation Hospital
The visions of September 11 on television are etched in my memory that morning. I had worked all night and struggled with sleep. As I turned on the television and focused on the words coming out of the reporter’s mouth, I was instantly filled with fear and worry. As I continued to watch the coverage, the news got worse.
As a registered nurse, I immediately thought of the injured who would be rushed to hospitals with potentially fatal injuries. I empathized with the families who would be overwhelmed by the fear that their loved one who worked in one of the towers or the Pentagon would not survive.
As a mother of four, I immediately knew that there would be countless children who instantly lost a parent. Birthdays, school balls, graduation ceremonies should all be celebrated without one of their parents to share the joy and smile of the photographs.
My thoughts drifted to the parents who have lost an adult child. We are not supposed to outlive our children.
After watching for several hours, I realized that 9/11 had another meaning for our family that I needed to speak to. It was the seventh birthday of my third child.
How could I explain to him what had happened and how the date of his birth would forever be a part of history?
When she got home from school that day, she rushed to the door and asked where we were going to eat for her birthday. She was able to choose the restaurant of her choice.
Along the way, we started to discuss the events of the day. “Something bad happened today and very bad people intentionally injured a lot of workers in New York and Washington DC.
When we got to our dinner destination, we encouraged them to ask as many questions as they needed and assured them they were safe. We then switched to birthday mode and started the celebration.
All around us there were conversations about the events of the day and in a very innocent voice my Catie asked, “Why is everyone talking about my birthday? And our smiling parental response was “Because you are so special.” “
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