Contributed by: Michele Smith
Contributor's location on 9/11: Elkridge, Maryland
Contributed on: August 4, 2007

Sept 11, 2001, I will never forget that tragic date. First and foremost, I thought I was not going to see my children because I thought for sure that we were all going to die that day. I worked in Elkdridge, MD at the time which is not too far from DC. At first when I saw news I thought was a terrible accident, but then when the 2nd plane hit, I knew it was no accident and I began to cry and to pray that God would let me get to my children. I was 20 miles from home and wanted to jump in my car and go home as far as I could. I did not go though because our local new announced that the Pentagon was hit too. The traffic was so gridlocked between DC and Baltimore that I knew if they were going to kill us that I would never make it home it time to tell my kids I loved them. As it turned out I was able to go home and hug my kids and I cried with them.

Secondly, this date is also my birthdate so it was even harder for me to deal with what happened. So many people calling me to wish me a Happy Birthday, but how could I be happy? I no longer celebrate my birthday, I choose to celebrate a day of heroism for all of those who saved the lives they could and for those who lost their lives.

There is one more thing that really haunts me to this very day that must be hard for those who never got the closure they need because they have no way of matching DNA to any of the remains. Why can't they match DNA? Because of adoption. How many people died that day that were adopted? How many never knew that they were adopted? How many husband, wives, children, parents and siblings are mouring a loved one that was never identified? I have an adopted brother that I can not find, he could have been one of those that died that day, but I will never know. His adopted parents may never get the chance to have closure because they would never be able to get a positive ID through DNA testing.

I feel for all those familes affected by this and I feel for those lost souls whose remains are still unidentified because they can't match up any DNA to them.



Cite as: Michele Smith, Story #39395, The September 11 Digital Archive, 4 August 2007, <http://911digitalarchive.org/stories/details/39395>.
Archival Information: 433 words, 2085 characters
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