9/11 Narrative

Never in my life had I seen a woman quite as beautiful as her. I woke up on the morning of September 11, 2001 and looked at my wife still sleeping next to me. I took a moment to revel in her beauty, and think about what it would be like to be a father. Irene was eight months pregnant with a little boy. I had no doubts that she would be an outstanding mother, but i doubted myself. I'm a firefighter, I'm never home. What if I wasn't the best dad? So many things rushed my mind, but I pushed them aside and began gathering my things to head to work. It was only 5 o'clock so I was very careful not to wake my sleeping wife. She was exhausted and I knew it, so my intentions were to let her rest. I've never regretted anything more than not waking her on that morning. I walked out my front door without so much as an "I Love You." or a "Goodbye sweetie, have a good day!" I was gone to work, gone to Squad 252 of the FDNY. Work was slow. Thats what I remember the most. I was the first to arrive for my shift (as always) and we hand't received any calls. I tried to catch up on some reading of the national headlines. My job didn't allow for much free time, so when I had some, I took advantage. Days like this were few and far between. Being a firefighter has taught me to appreciate all the down time I received. Today I should have been home decorating a nursery with my wife, but the night before I received a phone call asking if I could work overtime today. We have a little boy on the way, and were in need of all the extra overtime hours I can accumulate. Men started arriving for the new shift soon after. The ones who had been asleep at the station packed up and went home to enjoy a day off. By seven that morning I had a hand in preparing breakfast for the boys and had set down to eat with some of the people I loved the most. I sat at that table with twenty men who had proved time and time again that they would go through anything to have my back. These men were so very