About The Author

Pauline L. Hawkins was born in Munson Army Hospital at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas on Easter Sunday. As her mother says, Pauline chose to enter the world in the middle of a tornado, and she has been going strong ever since. Pauline and her two adult sons currently reside in Texas, where she has been in the health insurance industry for almost thirty years, working her way up from the mailroom to corporate management and claims payment. In 2002, Pauline received her Instructional Design certification, which allows her to create instructor-led and learner-paced training curricula, along with computer-based learning activities and website creation. She has enjoyed the opportunity to exercise her creativity. Pauline has enjoyed writing since she was in high school, and has decided to start sharing her stories. This is her debut book.

From The Author

When I sat down to actually write this book, my expectation was simply to put a few words on paper to work through my own grieving process for 9/11. However, I soon found out that the more I said, the more I had to say. Once I started writing, it was as though the emotional floodgates opened, and all the memories came back -- memories that beckoned to be put on paper. I soon realized that while everyone talked about what happened in New York, at the Pentagon, and in the field in Pennsylvania, very little had been said about how that day affected those of us outside of those areas. An entire country, and world, were affected that day. Lives were changed, security lost, and our story should be shared as well. My hope is that you will find this book not only enjoyable but also informative and thought-provoking. I truly have enjoyed sitting down and sharing on these pages my experiences associated with 9/11 and the days and years following.