7 Years later I still remember the day of September 11th VERY clearly. We were living in Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire, England at the time. I spent the morning and afternoon cleaning and left the house to pick Alexis up from pre-school. Back then I usually cleaned with the tv's on throughout the house, but not on this day, unfortunately. As I was waiting for Alexis to be released from school the Yorkshire Mom's were gabbing about, I was the only American and it was a tough crowd to get to know. Most of the Yorkshire Mom's were hardworking farmer's wives, lovely people. but a close knit group.
The women were talking frantically in their Yorkshire Brogue about planes crashing into the Twin Towers in New York, planes crashing into the Pentagon, etc... Finally I couldn't resist, I remember very clearly to this day, asking, "What movie is this, it sounds very interesting?"
Everyone has their own story, but I am sure all of you can relate to and imagine the absolute horror I felt when they said it wasn't a movie, it was on the news and happening right now! I recall taking Lexi from school in a daze and hurrying back to the house to call John, this was pre-mandatory cell phones. I called John and he said, "I can't talk to you, I am okay, watch the news." Oh, and BTW the base was locked down indefinitely for incoming and outgoing traffic. We lived off base so it was truly frightening to be alienated from our little bit of America, our safety (I sometimes thought it WAS safer off base away from a potential target) and most importantly my HUSBAND!
Next, I called and woke my Mom up and told her, of course Mom was groggy since it was so early in the morning and like anyone else couldn't quite believe it, then she turned on the news, we watched on the phone in horror as they showed the Shanksville, PA plane crash, I wondered who is next? My Mom and Dad lived in San Marino, California at the time, out skirts of LA. I can't remember, but I believe my Dad was at LAX at the time on his way home or going.
Next, I called my friends in North Yorkshire, Melissa and Missy, I think Lisa was working at the base. Melissa came over and we just watched the news for hours, over and over, waiting for the next attack, wondering if we were next. Finally our husbands could leave work and after they went to bed Melissa came over and we watched the news until 4:00 in the morning.
I hope in my lifetime I never have to go through this again, I hope my children and grandchildren NEVER have to go through that terror of wondering, "Are we next?" At the same time I don't want our children to forget. Lexi is still a bit young to put the fear of terrorism in her, but I want her to know what happened and I don't want the day to be distorted by time and historians writing only what they want us to remember. I do recall crying for at least a week at certain news reports and Lexi would walk into the room and I would shut the tv off quickly. Lexi would ask why I was crying and I just said, "People are not nice sometimes". She was 3, what else can you say?
I have family members that were at ground zero, building 5, helped out for days, became sick from the smoke and whatever else was in the air, they still have nightmares. I know this is not the most uplifting post, but let us NEVER forget what happened to the almost 3000 people that died and where we were at the time.
Please leave a comment on the blog as to where you were and what your thoughts and feelings were. I am curious to hear from you. I want to capture your memories for our children when they are old enough to understand.
Thanks!
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3 comments:
I'll NEVER forget it either. I was in Pacific Grove, CA and as Jami was getting ready for work the phone rang (I was a waitress, so sleeping in was a just right of mine!) He went into the living room (so not to wake me) and I heard him turn on the TV. Being the little sneak that I am, I turned on the tv in the bedroom on mute and flipped through the channels till my tv view matched his sound. My jaw dropped to the floor and I FROZE. I didn't have to work that day and spent the entire day watching the TV OVER and OVER again. Tears, there were a few...scared, you BET I was! Horrified, YES. and I didn't hear from Jami ALL day (we were still just dating) so had NO idea WHAT was going on. Only thing I knew at that moment was FEAR!!!
Since they grounded ALL planes, it was unmentionably quiet. The fear that rose in my chest a couple of days later when I heard a plane go overhead was immense. (of course it was a military plane but I didn't know that at the time)
That moment stands in your memory forever. I was driving to work and listening to 98 rock radion station as I always during the ride in. I remember sitting at a red light and Lopez was doing his normal morning news. The guys were laughing and then suddenly Lopez said "wait a minute; we just got this report in that a plane crashed into one of the twin towers in New York". At this point, they were not sure if this was a commuter plane or commercial airline. Moments later the announcement of yet another hit on the second tower. The radio station was in shock. I was thinking this had to be an accident. Once at work the TV was on in the kitchen and everyone was just starring at the television and watching in horror. People were crying and comforting each other. I remember needing to leave the kitchen for a while, walked back to my desk and my co-worker asked me if I was okay and I just started crying. We both held each other and cried. I called Michael (hubby) and home to my mom who was watching my kids to make sure I told them I loved them. You just didn't know what was going to happen next. During that time it seemed as if nothing else mattered anymore. No one was working or caring if anything got done. It was a feeling of numbness. - Michele Waskiewicz
I remember the day, I remember what I was doing, and how I felt. I was standing in the Dean's Office at Campbell University, in North Carolina when a friend of mine, Robin (who worked across the hall in the Associate Dean's Office) came in and asked me if I had heard what was happening on the news.
A moment later, we all stood in the middle of the Student Center and watched in shock as the events of that day unfolded. Unable to tear our eyes from the television screens, we watched as the second plane hit the Twin Towers. As people jumped from the windows. As the Towers fell. Overwhelming emotions.
I've been reading and listening to some of the family members at the 9/11 memorial and heard a family member of one of the victims ask us to never forget. I won't.
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