Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Tuesday Tribute: 911-Where were you?
As part of the series, the paper is asking citizens to recall where they were when they heard of the events. What they remembered feeling...what they remember thinking.
911 doesn't feel like ten years ago to me but I know it to be true because my daughter is ten years old and she was 2 months old when the towers fell. In fact, she was exactly two months old.
Middle G. was born June 11th. Before that September date. Before that time.
We were at the zoo.
The girls and I were meeting some friends at the zoo. We planned to spend the day there. To have lunch there.
I was listening to kid music in the car. We were singing along. We were, like so many others, just going about our day.
My husband was not traveling, but my friend's husband was.
When I got to the zoo, I remember wondering why so many people were still sitting in their cars. I soon came to realize that they were listening to the news. Listening live to the gasps of the reporters as the second plane flew into the towers.
We didn't know how serious it was. We thought it was an accident. We didn't know it was intentional. We didn't know that much hatred existed. We didn't know it could touch us.
The zoo announced it was closing at 10:30 "to honor our friends and family in New York." I still didn't understand.
Even as I was leaving the parking lot and heading home, I didn't understand. When I pulled safely into the driveway with my toddler and my infant and found my husband home from work, I didn't understand.
As I watched live the events unfolding in a field not far from where I grew up, I didn't understand.
Ten years later and I still don't understand.
Where were you when the towers fell and so much changed forever?
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About Me
- kisatrtle
- I'm a 41 year old (gasp) freelance writer, school cafeteria manager, wife and mother. I have three children and one anxious and overweight beagle. I use my blog to make others laugh, to share some cool crafts, to document my lunchlady adventures and to lament about the challenges faced by us all on the journey called life. Thanks for visiting. Please leave some crack...um...I meant some comments.
6 random thoughts:
I had just come in off the green after playing 18 holes of golf, as I walked into the club house the lady behind the counter was crying, her eyes glued to the tv...as my buddy and I walked in we saw/heard the news, we dropped our clubs and became transfdixed to the screen...we hurried to his house, then spent three days in fron t of the tv without ever moving....a horrible time..
My first daughter was 5 months and 12 days old. I was sitting on my fathers love seat feeding her a bottle of formula, waiting for my mother in-law to pick us up for a day of shopping. As she was eating I was watching the "breaking news" story of the airplane that hit the first tower. Then before my eyes, live, I watched the second plane hit tower #2. At that moment I knew. I knew this was no accident. I knew it was a premeditated attack. I also knew that I might never see my husband again. You see even though I lived in California, I was currently in my home town in SW Michigan, because my husband, who was at that time enlisted in the Navy, was in the middle of a 6 month overseas cruise. He had just called me from Singapore the night before to tell me he loved me and that he was shipping out for Bahran the next morning. It was almost Christmas before I recieved my first email from him, letting me know he was okay. I will never forget those feelings of pain. Not only for those in NY, but the pain of the possibilities for our new family. He arrived in San Diego, CA on January 19th. Best day of my life at that point and time...
I had just woken up as I worked afternoons. I found my mom on the couch watching the news in complete shock. I was glued to the TV right up until I had to leave for work and then stayed tuned into the radio all night long. We were so worried that there was going to be even more attacks across the US and possibly to us here in Canada.
I was at work and my boss's wife called to tell him about the first plane hitting the tower. We all thought it was a small plane (like a commuter plane) and an accident. Then she called back about the second plane and we started to look into it for ourselves. I remember wanting to go home but they wouldn't let us. It felt so surreal. My Little One wasn't born yet and still doesn't understand what 9/11 means. I guess I'll have to explain it to him someday … but how does one explain that?
How could any of us not remember. I was in the front hall at my kids elementary school talking with some other parents and the secretary came in and said "Some idiot flew his plane into the World Trade Center in New York City." We all just kind of said, "What a jerk" and didn't think too much about it. Then we went to the lunch room to sit and plan some activity or other for PTA. We saw one of the teachers go past running with the TV on a cart and go to the Teachers Lounge, then more teachers hurried into the lounge, so we went to see what was going on. When we walked in we saw one tower with smoke etc. then saw the plane hit the second tower, we were all in shock and all just stood there, men and women, with tears running down our faces. How could this be happening.
Then we were told that one of the teachers was leaving, because her son lives in NYC and she still hadn't heard from him. Turns out that he was right there in the middle of it, had gone back to his uncle's apartment where he was living and realized that he had some medical supplies in his hand that one of the EMTs had asked him to hold. He knew they would be needed so he grabbed a kitchen towel tied it around his face and went back. His picture is in one of the magazines, I believe it was Time. He ended up seeing things that day and helping the medical people with others that had worse injuries than he did, saw a lot that no one should ever have to see. To me he was one of the heros, but after that, he couldn't stay in NYC and go to law school there, he came home to recover physically, mentally and emotionally from the horrors of that day.
Oh yes I remember that day like no other!
I was driving my 3 year old and 15 month old to the library. I rarely listened to news radio, but for some reason I had it on that day. I can remember being in a zombie state as I drove back home. I worried about my brother who worked near there. I worried about my friends in NYC. I worry for all of us in a world where something horrible can happen in an instant and change the world forever.