911 from 9/11

I got my copy of the Metro this morning from my favorite Metro Lady. On my way down to the subway platform, I started reading the front page. It was the story of one of the 911 phone calls from the World Trade Center. As I waited for the Red Line, I choked back the tears as I read how the 911 operator continued to talk to the woman for 21 minutes after the woman stopped speaking. The operator stated she wanted to encourage and support the caller even if she could not speak or was perhaps unconscious. The story ended with the line going dead and the operator’s exclamation of horror. The kindness, dedication, and humanity of that 911 operator, reading the caller's fear of death, and knowing the end of the story before it came, it all ripped through me like the subway entering the station. The doors opened and I swallowed my tears and strived to pull it together as I climbed into the jam-packed train and rode to work.