Share your story...what were you doing when the planes hit? I was getting ready for work and turned on the news (I was on the west coast). My hubby (now ex) had just started work at a new firestation (he is a firefighter) and I watched in horror as the first tower burned and saw live the second plane hit. I was 6 months pregnant with Michael and so my hormones/emotions were already in high gear.
I remember I didn't want to go to work that day, just wanted to stay home glued to the tv set. And I was calling my husband and telling him that if anything happened in LA to PLEASE run away from the building, not to go inside any high rises. I told him I'd rather he lose his job than his life.....
I have a book with a bunch of stuff I collected from that day. News clippings, magazine articles, the 9/11 video documentary, poems, etc. It is something I have tried to explain to my kids. I remember the story of a man who worked in the Twin Towers. His sister and her daughter (and their best friend and her daughter) were on one of the planes that hit the towers. He was just entering the lobby when the plane carrying his sister and niece hit the building. How terribly ironic. They were traveling to Disney Land (where dreams come true). Just one of many horror stories that came to life that day.
I cannot imagine how hard this day is for those living in the city or for the survivors and their families.
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Thanks for sharing your stories. Jyl, I am so sorry you knew people who died that day. Liz, I can so relate to the tv thing. And Loony...what a nightmare, huh?
I am wiped out. I just spent most of today (well yesterday now) watching the History channel's annual coverage of 9/11. This time I watched with my son and tried to explain the unexplainable. He couldn't quite grasp that this ACTUALLY happened, it wasn't a Hollywood video, movie or game. He kept getting confused between real and fantasy. Watching it all again (I have really just stayed away from it since then, except for maybe the 1st anniversary) brought back alot of what I felt, but the rawness was gone. It is still hard to watch, but it's like my nerves have healed a little. But I want my kids to know what an important day that was for our country and why. So many firsts that day...first time we had a terrorist attack at home, first time planes had been flown into buildings on purpose, first time civilians were unwittingly used as missles while other civilians were attacked for doing nothing more than living ordinary lives , first time body parts rained from the sky and skyscrapers fell to the ground, first huge loss of life of fire and police personnel on a single day at a single incident, first time we could watch on live television such horrendous events unfold, first time planes were voluntarily pulled out of the skies to keep us all safe (remember how eerily quiet it was?), first time we watched some countries dancing in the streets and others mourning with us over the events of that day. I could go on and on....
Let us all pray there will never be another day of firsts like those again....
3 comments:
I was lying in bed with my wee baby Jane, watching regis and pippa. I cried, I worried, I watched, and couldn't believe what I had just watched. I have never since been without a radio or tv running, and never will. I stayed in bed all morning holding my precious girl worried about what the future would hold for all of us. My Love was working all day and had no clue about how the world changed, my cousin in Toronto cried on the phone as she had just returned from New York the day before, just returned with black and white photo's of the towers, and the skyline and stories of their trip to New York, thankful she made it home safely. A tradegy to not be forgotten, and so many lives to remember... hard to believe all these years later still... but never to be forgotten.
i was at work... and the school nurse popped her head in and said her husband had called. he said an airplane hit one of the twin towers- so we assumed it was a small cessna that lost its way or something. how wrong we were. the rest of the day was spent listening to the radio and trying to give teachers updates (w/o the kids realizing what we were talking about). we all rode on the buses home to make sure there was an adult get them off the bus and all i kept thinking is that these kids have no idea what happened...and that how things would never be the same again.
dave and i were glued to the tv for days and all i did was cry. so horrific. i'll never forget. my heart aches for those who lost loved ones. :(
A day to reflect for sure. I live in CT - so it was truly chaotic here. I had just dropped off my oldest (then just 3) at pre-school for his first day. we all went back to pick the kids up. the person in front of me was picking up a little girl for a friend of hers. it turns out - that friend's husband was killed that day....the little girl lost her father that day.
i came home and my youngest (then 18 months) was dancing to the wiggles when i walked in the door. the innocence was so bittersweet. i too remember thinking why did i bring these children into this world.
then as everyone we were glued to the tv....in shock. as i watched i learned of others i knew....on the plane in pa and in the windows on the world restaurant....colleagues of mine from my microsoft day.
i try to watch the names being read every year to hear the names of the people i knew....right now i'm listening...waiting to hear the name of a friend....mitzi sperando....they are on smith right now. thanks for giving me a place to share.
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