35W Bridge Collapse

I am sure that all of us Minnesotans could not have gone through their day without thinking about what happened 1 year ago today. On August 1, 2007, the 35W bridge in Minneapolis collapsed just after 6 pm. 13 people lost their lives and countless others injured. Michael and I went to see what was left of the bridge the day after the collapse last year. We obviously had limited access and views of the bridge as there were still cars, some with people in them, in the river waiting to be pulled from the river, but no longer as a search and rescue mission. I remember how many phone calls and text mesages I received that day from my family and friends making sure I was ok and not on the bridge. I know of some people who did have a close call, being on the bridge 5-15 minutes before the collapse. I can't say I had quite the same fright but I did take that bridge 5 days a week, twice a day for 14 months. I had stopped taking that bridge 3 months prior to the collapse, as I moved in with Michael and took a different route to work. It crossed my mind that if I didn't move in with Michael, if I would have been on the bridge. I worked late that day, until 5:50 pm. If I had driven my old route, it could have put me on the bridge at 6:05 pm, the time of the collapse. While 3 months is long way off from being on the bridge, it is still humbling to me. It could have been any of us. Below are some of the pictures that Michael and I took last August.