After my friend and I went on the Rhine River Cruise, we got into her car to drive back to her house in Spiesheim, a small village south of Mainz.
My friend had her radio tuned to the US Armed Forces radio since the Rhein am Main Air Force base is near Mainz. The news was on and we had come in on the tail end of the broadcaster saying something about a plane crashing into the Pentagon. I said "what?" and turned up the volume. Then the news said that 2 planes had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York.
By then, I realized that the USA had been attacked by terrorists. When we got to my friends house, she let me watch CNN on German TV. There is a CNN Europe, and I got more information about the attacks. By this time, I was scared that I would not be able to go home on October 1, and I started to cry. I was also worried that my brother-in-law Todd's Navy unit would be sent out to the Persian Gulf or to Afghanistan.
My Mom called me that night to make sure I was OK and to tell me that Todd was not going out for a while because he was still in Basic Training. She was really worried about me but kept her strength up for my sake. I felt better after hearing from her and that they were OK. My sister was saying days before September 11 that there was nothing exciting in the news anymore. Well September 11 changed that!
I cancelled my trip to Rothenburg because I was afraid of travelling alone on the train. I stayed an extra night in Spiesheim with my friend there and then went on to Neuburg, where another friend lived. Nicole was very happy to have me for an extra night, and she and her family made me very comfortable and were very understanding.
I hope I will not be away home if anything like September 11 happens again, but I am grateful for having such good friends in Germany who let me stay with them and consoled me in my time of need and our nation's time of grief.