Day trader Darrell Hunter, 47, casually sat outside Orchard Valley Coffee a week prior to the Sept. 11 anniversary. He was relaxing after a workout on the Campbell Park Par Course when asked to reflect on the event and the changes he had encountered during the past year.

Hunter noted that he felt a greater sense of global awareness, which he attributed directly to Sept. 11. But he added, "In the aftermath of Sept. 11, what irked me the most was the way people were trashing anyone who looked Muslim. That really seemed to affect me. I felt like we were acting exactly like the terrorists."

After witnessing the intolerance, Hunter said, he felt grateful to live in a relatively tolerant community. He also noted that "life is pretty sheltered in the valley" compared to the rest of the nation.

Chuckling, Hunter commented that he'd learned more about the Taliban than he had ever imagined and perhaps ever wanted to know.

As the anniversary approaches, he finds that he doesn't want to relive the day, "except that remembering brings things closer to home."

Campbell resident Marina Ferguson said closer to home is exactly where she wanted to be when the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were destroyed during the terrorist attacks of last Sept. 11.

A stay-at-home mother of three small children who moved to Campbell 10 years ago from Austria, Ferguson became immediately homesick as the events unfolded.

"I thought America was so powerful," she said. "I couldn't imagine how they didn't see it coming."

After the event, she became concerned about the negative attitude toward people of Middle Eastern descent—Ferguson's sister-in-law is married to a Muslim.

"They were so worried about what was happening; they actually considered changing their name," she said.

Some of the anxiety has subsided as people have realized they need to work together to effectuate positive change, but "we all think twice about what we do," she commented.

For Ferguson the event was a personal wake-up call to plan things out on a day-to day basis. Yet during the past year the traumatic memories seem to have faded.

"It seems to be the American way," she said. "There is a big boom and then things go away. But Americans will continue to wonder what is next."

Ferguson is positive about the future because "people have opened their hearts after being deeply touched by what happened."

For 22-year-old Santa Clara University graduate Matt Mastman, Sept. 11 came a lot closer than he ever expected.

He was a friend of Santa Clara University junior Deora Bodley, who died on United Airlines Flight 93.

"The other day I had a weird experience when I pulled a card out of my wallet and found Deora's name and phone number on the back. I had forgotten it was there. I remembered what a good person she was. We had been in several classes together."

Seeing her handwriting on the card brought back the reality of the moment.

Contemplating the past year, he also talked about the racial profiling that has become prevalent and said, "It would be nice if we could fix the problems in our own country first."

Veryl Hunt, 71, whose wife, Karla, owns Expressions from the Heart in downtown Campbell, voiced a similar thought. He thinks the public has become somewhat disenchanted with the government's actions following Sept. 11.

"There is so much rhetoric coming out of the government, and nothing is being done," Hunt said. "People are unhappy with the economy, and many people are out of work. I think all that affects how we feel since Sept. 11."

He'd like to see stronger leadership in Washington D.C., with a focus on economic solutions and not on wars.

"Now the government wants to chase Iraq," he added. "How many wars are we going to fight with the economy in the dumps?"

But looking toward the anniversary, he hopes there is a memorial with a positive focus, not a strong emphasis on the tragic nature of the events.

International business traveler Kevin Daroca, 47, agrees. He would also like to see something "tastefully done" to commemorate the day.

For Daroca, whose work takes him abroad, the events of Sept. 11 could have completely hampered his livelihood, but he was determined not to let terrorist behavior stop him, he said.

"Even after it happened, I wasn't apprehensive about flying," he said.

Having conducted business in the Middle East—Israel and Egypt—he was familiar with unstable environments. But the events only hardened his resolve not to change how he earned a living.

"I feel the potential risk of flying is a little better than winning the lottery, and I haven't won that," he said.

But he quickly acknowledges it's not the same for others, admitting that his wife is scared to travel, and says, "people often create a fear that is far worse than the reality."

But as he stopped to reflect he said, "If I had a trip on the anniversary of Sept. 11, I wouldn't hesitate to fly, but then again I might not out of respect for the day."