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the day thier world stopped turning
Posted by: Virginia Vernooy from Flagstaff Tuesday September 10, 2002 @ 08:21 PDT
we woke to the sun rising through the northern arizona pines . getting the campfire ready and preparing the coffee, i tuned the radio to any station that would come in clear. as i sat and listened, i thought what i was listening to was a commercial for a new movie full of distruction and violence. i listened closer only to realise that our twin towers in new york were being bomed by our own airliners. i listened further to find that the pentagon had been bomed as well. and then a report of another airliner going down in pa. i paniced! we hurried to pack the van and get to a phone so i could call my mother and father and to call my son, who works for united airlines. we arrived in pason arizona and rented a motel room there for the night. the reports on the television were horrifying. i just could'nt sleep that night for watching cnn all night. i cried all night, for i had lost thousands of my fellow americans. we got up early the next morning and went to the resturant next to the motel. we both walked in silence across the parking lot into the resturant. as we sat down, i noticed a couple sitting directly across from us. they were not speaking. it was as if they were paralyzed. i could feel the deep sadness filling the room. i looked toward them and spoke out to get thier attention. "hello"....i said as kindly as i could, seeing that they were in a horrible kind of pain. i then asked, " you wouldn't happen to be from new york, would you"? the woman looked at me with such sadness and inner desolation and replied, "yes we are.....how did you know"? my boyfriend got up at that point and went to the restroom. he thought i talk to strangers too much. i got up and walked over to thier table and asessed them both. i then said, "you have a loved one that is missing don't you"? "it is your son is'nt"? the woman looked at me and replied, "yes"! "how did you know"? i went to her side of the booth and put my arms around her as though she were my mother and held her tightly. i told here she had alot of work to do. i asked if i could help in any way. we spoke for a while. she and her husband cried. i cried. we figured out a way for them to get home as quickly as possible. i got up and went to the pay phone and called the train staition in phoenix and gave them the number to call so they could get home as soon as possible to find thier child. you see, thier child was mike raguso. firefighter in new york. mike had been one of the first rescuers into one of the twin towers. never to be seen again. we traded phone numbers and e-mail adresses before we had to leave. i cried. we returned home only to watch, day in and day out, cnn. and i cried and cried and cried. to this day we write to each other and i try to be as supportive as possible. you see, that day i met an angle"s mother and father. i love dee and vinn raguso with all my heart and pray every day for mike and his parents and for all the victims and thier families. that was the day thier world stopped turning. to all with all my love, "ginger".