The Crash of Continental Flight 3407 in Clarence, NY

Today the community I am proud to be a part of made national news. The reason our area received so much attention is one I wish had never existed. Almost twenty-four hours ago Continental flight 3407 crashed into a house in Clarence, New York. This is a mere twenty minutes from where my family and I live, a place we travel to often, and a place where we have friends and relatives.

Being the mother of a newborn and toddler I was tired last night and fell asleep before the evening news. I did not find out about the crash until my husband called me from work early this morning. When I heard about the news I was in shock and disbelief. I kept thinking to myself he was mistaken because things like this just do not happen in this area. Disasters like this happen in other places, but never here. Bad things like that cannot happen here because that means were are not invulnerable. If this happened here then my family and especially my children are not immune to things like terrorist attacks and trains derailing and planes falling from the sky. But as much as I wanted to believe he was mistaken I knew he was not. Clarence was too near the Buffalo airport and I knew the road the house the plane crashed into was on. A horrible accident had happened, even here.

One of the first thoughts that came to mind was a fear that this could have possibly been another terrorist attack. I can remember clearly where I was when the planes hit the twin towers and I prayed that this had not been the case again. So far all of the press conferences and news reports have suggested that the plane crash was accidental, but also state that a terrorist attack has not been ruled out. It appears more and more unlikely however, especially since the flight crew was heard talking about significant icing on the plane's wings via the cockpit flight recorder.

The next thought was of family members who lived in Clarence and I was praying they were safe. I called my husband's grandma who informed me they were. She also told me just how close the crash site their house was. The location was close enough to send a cold shiver throughout my entire body and I was so relieved that everyone was okay. We were lucky. The friends and family members of the fifty people who died because of the crash were not. My heart goes out to the many people who are grieving the loss of loved ones this evening.

As I watched the news coverage of the tragedy throughout the day I also kept my small children close to me. I gave my son a few more hugs and kisses and I held my daughter a little longer after she fell asleep before putting her in her crib. I watched them and tried to memorize every aspect of their tiny beautiful faces. I was reminded today that life is short and that as much as I want to be here to see them grow up, anything could happen. I could live to a ripe old age of ninety or I could be sitting in my computer room tomorrow and have a plane crash into me. That statement would have sounded unrealistic a couple of days ago, but today it seems possible. Life is fragile. Every moment is precious. I just wish it did not take tragedies like this to remind us all how much we let slip past us or take for granted.