London Calling

I woke up this morning knowing something was wrong. I didn't know what. I went to my computer, not wanting to wake John up on the futon. John arrived Sunday, and its been great having him here, though I've had to work the last couple of days, now we have time to visit more. But I looked around online, and then saw what happened in London. I woke John up, to tell him that there were explosions in London. Karen and Audrey are in London. As far as I knew, they both take the tube everyday.

I remember what it was like turning the TV on on Tuesday Sept. 11 2001. But it didn't personally affect me as much as what happened today. Paul Rahn was in New York at the time, but he wasn't working in the WTC. I had no clue where Audrey and Karen worked. I had no idea when they traveled, when they were on the tube. And I was afraid for them, I really was. I thought, for a moment that maybe I'd lost them both, without having a chance to see them again. I can't lie and say that it hasn't been weighing on my mind all day. Luckily, when I restarted my IM at around 11 this morning, Karen's name popped up and I confirmed she was ok. It seems that she was on the tube when it happened, but not near the area at the time, though she did see blood at one of the stations. Audrey was at work and unaffected. And I breathed a sigh of relief. John and I had tried to call Karen's flat, I tried to call Audrey's number, Audrey's mother, and finally, tried to call Albion, to see if they had been checked on the two of them. They had not. It turns out, I only got there whereabouts by luck.

Terrorism really never effected me this way before. Not personally like this. When it happened in New York, I only had a tenuous connection to the city. Here, I had very personal connections, even if its been a long time since I've seen Audrey. I'd never had anything hit me like this. Thank God that both of them are safe, and condolences to those who have lost loved ones. To Ms. Coleman and Ms. Green- Thank you for staying safe and for being with us. Expect some very big hugs when I see you both.