Can you believe it?

Has it really be five years ago? Has it really been that long since I walked into my cube at the US Airways headquarters, sat down at my desk to start the day, and while firing up my computer, I hear words from a co-worker over my shoulder…

“A plane hit the World Trade Center.”

After that, the rest of the day is pretty much a blur now. Many of the details of that day have since faded from my memory. All that’s left are are the major moments, with gaps filled by vague recollections.

One thing that I do remember is the feeling of dread that washed over me when a co-worker walked through the doors by my cube and said that he saw a bomb go off at the Pentagon on his drive in. We now know his “bomb” was another plane, but the significance of that explosion was that I then knew that they were coming after US.

I spent the next couple of hours trying to get a hold of Emily while rumors of explosions at the Capitol and the State Department were running rampant. While IM said she was online, all of my messages were never returned. Calls were useless because the phone system on the entire east coast was completely overloaded. I paniced. I’ve never had a more helpless feeling in my life.

I finally got the idea to try and call Emily’s parents, hoping that the connection would go through since only one end of the call was in a saturated area and also hoping Emily had thought to do the same thing. Luckily, she had. Her mom told me that she had been evacuated from the Capitol and was now at a co-workers house in northwest DC.

After that point, I really only remember a couple of things from that day. I remember the quiet ride home on the metro. Nearly everyone in the greater DC area evacuated earlier in the day, so on a ride that would have normally had full cars, it was just me and another worn out soul in my metro car. My normal ride was much longer than normal because we were routed around the bridge that crosses the Potomac River within a half mile of the Pentagon.

I also remember finally getting home to my tiny apartment that day and seeing Emily for the first time since that morning. There was a moment before anyone said anything that we just looked at each other as if to say…

“Can you believe it?”