Before I headed down to NYC on 9/11 I stopped at the school to say goodbye to my wife and children, and switch cars ( I was to bring the family van in for servicing so the wife had my ghetto commuter) {I figured I might have to abandon the car somewhere and wanted the bride to be able to evacuate with the family van if she had to}
My neighbor, and wife of the soccer coach, came running at me as I was leaving saying "Don't Go Don't Go" and wrapped her arms around me in a bear hug through the car window. I didn't think about my answer that just blurted out of me.
"Arlene, I've been getting ready for this day my entire life".
Years later my mental health professional told me after examining me for 6 months. "We in the mental health community never expected to find someone so primed to deal with September 11th".
She was the Chair, Post-Doctural Studies Program of Trauma, NYU School of Psychiatry and Psychoanalisis