Austin Plane Crash

It's no doubt that you've all heard all about the plane crash that happened in North Austin this morning. I was grocery shopping when it happened & didn't realize the severity of it until I got home & started watching the local news (which was being fed live to CNN as well). I quickly became very emotional watching all of the live coverage on TV.

Leslie called me while I was grocery shopping to tell me about it. Her husband, Brian, works at a building directly across Highway 183 from the Echelon Building, that got hit by the plane. He watched all day as smoke billowed out of the building, the firemen arrived, people were rescued, etc. I was so scared for him, but so thankful that this "random" incident didn't happen to his building.

Then the news started coming in... the building that got hit housed 200+ IRS workers, and the man who ran into the building was angry at the IRS. When I began hearing the coverage that the building housed federal employees, emotion just started running over me. Justin works at THE Federal Building here in Austin, as he is a federal employee as well; it could have been his building that had been targeted by this man. And to top it off, the majority of the building that Justin works in downtown is filled with IRS workers; actually, the IRS ran out of space at the Federal Building, which is why they moved part of their office to this Echelon Building that got hit today.

My mind started racing. That man could have targeted Justin's building... my husband... the father of my two children. What made him choose the Echelon Building & not the Federal Building? (I realize on a daily basis how scary it is for Justin to work where he does with everything that has happened at Federal Buildings within the past 15 years... OKC bombing, Pentagon during 9/11, etc. Just going to visit him requires an ID check, all of our bags going through X-Rays, and us walking through metal detectors. Security stays pretty high at all times.) All I know is that I held both kids tight while we were watching the live reports on TV during the day today, and was counting down the hours until Justin would be home safely with us.

When he got home tonight, I broke down crying. How happy and thankful I am that my husband came home safely today. If the man that did this crime had chosen a different path, a different direction, a different target, it hurts me to think what may have happened. I thank God for my family and for keeping us all safe.

Austin is my home now, and seeing this happen in "our" city saddens me. I never thought something like this could happen so close to us; I know that sounds cliche, but it's true. During this time, I will pray for the family of this man who did this unspeakable thing, and will pray for the family of the one lone victim of this attack.... and I will certainly thank God that my husband is safe & home with us tonight.