The World was a different place

I had accepted a claims manager position for Baldwin & Lyons in downtown Indianapolis. Was it my dream job? No. It would allow me to get under my own roof, one box at a time.

I had interviewed for the job in August and never heard back from them. Then in mid September they called for a second interview. I drove down and stayed with Patty. I had met Patty through Chappy.  She had been one of his accounts when he first moved to Indianapolis and we ended up working together for Maryland Casualty for a brief period when we moved to Fishers in 1994.

I didn't have a place to stay, I hadn't found the house yet, but Patty said I could live with her until I found a home. I am so grateful to those who helped me along the way.  It's not that I couldn't have come up with other options, but it was one less thing I had to deal with on a plate I thought was overflowing.

I was slated to start work on Tuesday, September 24, 2001. The world was a different place that day, just a day shy of two weeks, we had all witnessed devastation in our backyard. It was like watching a movie. People glued to television sets watching that footage over and over.  In a matter of minutes our lives trembled from a distance as we watched our fellow Americans explode in this attack on  America.  This was not an accident, this was a  precision plan, executed to the second. In a matter of one hundred and fifty seven minutes, we witnessed two airplanes colliding into the World Trade Center, less than twenty minutes apart, within that hour, two more plans would shatter our faith in peace as a plane soared in to the Pentagon and another in a field southwest of Pittsburgh. 

Life would never be the same for anyone who called themselves an American. It was a Wednesday morning, it would have been my ninth wedding anniversary.  I hadn't been able to sleep the night before so I was still in bed when Jackie came into my bedroom screaming, "You've got to get up, oh my God, Cindy, Oh my God, you are not going to believe what is going on!"

I came into the living room where the television was on and I sat there watching this footage of the planes crashing in to the World Trade Center.  I couldn't believe my eyes as she told me what had transpired that morning.  I felt as though time had stopped, a moment for us to pause and thank God we were safe, and pray for those who were not.

I heard of the plane that had departed from Boston and my heart sunk. That is where Chappy lived, was he on that plane? Was he OK? I called him, but his phone went to voice mail.  The flight was headed to Los Angeles.  That was not part of his territory, so I was sure he was safe.  John  called to tell us he was fine. He was shaken as he worked in a Federal Building. He called Jackie, we looked at one another confused, why was he calling, I had not heard a peep from him since July fourth, but people were busy calling their loved ones for multiple reasons, he may have needed to feel he was not alone in this disaster.

Jackie had taken the day off. She wanted to to drive to Amish country to pick up a love seat she had special ordered.  I got dressed and we headed out, ears glued to the radio.  Was it over? Would there be more destruction in a world where we had only seen footage in far away countries of such hatred? 

After I had accepted the position, I moved my clothes to Patty's and prepared to settle in that final weekend before I started my new position.  On Sunday, my agent, who happened to be a relative of Patty's had given me some leads on homes to look at.  We drove up to Carmel.  I was starting to become discouraged at the homes I had seen so far.

Tottenham Drive - Fit for a Queen!

It wasn't that I was downsizing. It wasn't that I was afraid of buying a house that needed some work, it was I had not walked in to a house that my heart spoke, "you are home." It had happened every time I bought a house, I was just waiting for those three little words.

The house on the outside looked nice. It was a small neighborhood and close to every thing that I would need.  I opened the door and stepped inside and I heard the words I had been longing to hear.  I was home.