Almost in flight

By Lori Schoenauer: The morning of 9/11 started off like just another day at work for me. I traveled often at that time for my job at AEGON. On the morning of 9/11, I was once again at the Cedar Rapids airport.

My travels were going smoothly thus far as my flight to Chicago and then ultimately Charlotte were all on time. I boarded the plane in Cedar Rapids and began to snuggle in for my quick flight to Chicago. The plane backed away from the jet bridge, and we taxied out to the runway. We rounded the final corner, the nose of the plane was headed down the runway, and the plane's engines began to gear up for take-off. But before the wheels started moving, the engines suddenly came to an instant stop.

What was going on? Then the pilot came over the loud speaker and said, "There has been a national emergency. We are being instructed to return to the terminal immediately."

What could possibly be going on? A million ideas were going through my mind, but the day's actual events were unimaginable. The taxi back to the terminal seemed to take hours but was really only minutes. We exited the plane still not knowning. When we got back into the Cedar Rapids airport terminal, there were people talking, but with confused and worried faces.

At that time, the Cedar Rapids airport did not have TV monitors, and smart phones were only an idea. It became apparent that flights were not going to be leaving the airport anytime soon, so I decided to leave and head into the office.

I immediately got on my cell phone to try and call my husband. No answer. I then called my mom, and I remember the panic in her voice, "Where are you?" As I explained to her that I was headed into work, she quickly told me what she knew. At that point only the first plane had hit the first tower. It wasn't until I was walking into the AEGON building that the second plane hit.

Needless to say my day in the office was very unproductive and was spent glued to the TVs within the office as much as I could.

My heart goes out to all the families that lost a loved one on that terrible day! I know my memories will be with me for my lifetime. Peace!