*photo from Yahoo newsI had been to Manhattan once before.. and I had no idea what the "Twin Towers" were.. nor did I know what The World Trade Center was... Heard of it - but did not know what it was... The only building I knew anything about was the Empire State Building - mostly because of King Kong and An Affair to Remember via Sleepless in Seattle.... But on September 11, 2001- I along with the entire world learned exactly what The World Trade Center was on that day....
My girls had just started school a couple of days before - I was debating whether I should go pick them up or not... My sister Debbie told me that her university where she works was getting multiple bomb threats.... The world was in chaos.. I stayed glued to the TV and watched both towers collapse... Watched the New York people run for their lives from the smoke and flying debris.. Reports of a plane crash in a field somewhere in Pennsylvania was reported... We did not learn of the heroes from that attack until later.... A plane went into the Pentagon - Washington DC was on high alert... Congress stood on the steps of Capitol Hill and sang 'God Bless America.
President Bush was visiting an elementary school somewhere in Florida - the camera was on him when a man whispered in his ear - I could see the distress on President Bush's face....
The two things I remember the most following the 9/11 attacks... One - Americans took pride in their nation -Flying from cars - houses - boats - stores - I could see Red, White, and Blue flags everywhere I went... The 2nd thing is the gas prices dropped to .89 cents a gallon... People were afraid to travel....
Our world changed that day ten years ago... Air travel will never be the same.... New catch phrases came into being.. War on Terror -Homeland Security.. And going into Disneyland has changed -there are purse searches..... Americans no longer feel safe from foreign attacks... We now know it can happen here... and that is a sad thing...
When I was in NYC in July there was a fire station around the corner from our hotel... The garage door to the station had a memorial to the men that particular station had lost on September 11, 2001.. Yesterday - I typed in a couple of the names in the 9/11 database and put a face to their names... I cried.... That alone brought 9/11 up close and personal to me.......
Firefighter Paul Gill - First name under Engine 54
Those are not just names on a garage door - they are heroes that must be remembered and respected...My parents could remember what they were doing the day John F Kennedy was assassinated... and I will always remember what I was doing on 9/11/01....
What were you doing?
I had slept in that morning as I was going to work 11-7 at night. I got up aound 8:30 and turned on Good Morning America, only to find that something terrible had happened. I too was glued to the tv, watching the rest unfold. I'll never forget that day.
ReplyDeleteI am your newest follower following you back, thanks for stopping by my blog 3 little Miracles.
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I were home that morning watching Katie and Matt on the Today Show, my husband was home sick from work. I remember them cutting out for a breaking story of a "plane crashing" into one of the towers. But you could clearly see at the moment of they thought it was an accident, like all of us Katie and Matt watched with horror as the truth of what would happen unfold before our very eyes as another plane crashed into the second tower. When that happened I began to cry and picked up the phone and called my mother to ask her if she was watching THIS.
May God Grace all of us with a memory of how blessed we are and of those who we lost that day!
I was pregnant with my second, home sick as a dog...my brother called me to say a plane had accidentally hit one of the twin towers. And then we watched the second hit live...we knew it was no accident.
ReplyDeleteThe coverage yesterday was unbelievably moving - I cried all day.
:(
xo
You are right! I do remember exactly where I was, what I was doing, my first thoughts and what I was doing!
ReplyDeleteI was sitting on the sectional with a cup of coffee watching a morning show when they broke in with the first reports that a plane had hit a building.
I watched as they then spotted another plane coming into the second tower at which point everyone knew these were not accidents, but an attack.
I awakened my niece who was 24 and staying with us at the time. She came out and curled up on that sectional in the basement to watch the coverage.
I remember like it was 5 minutes ago when she asked, "Is it over?" and my answer that "no--this is just the beginning. There is more. These are the red herrings. They are going after the capital. This is just like a Tom Clancy novel!" I don't know HOW I knew that they were going after the capital--I just KNEW!
We watched in horror as the day progressed with the other two planes and sighed in relief when the president closed down all air traffic. I said a prayer for our president and thanked God he had the guts and foresight to make that decision.
Gman was at Gulfstream at Love Field when the air space was closed and would not be home for a while, but we were all safe!
With little to be done, I used my grief energy to put out my flags in honor of those lost. I remember how it was so hard to find an American Flag at the store because of people doing the same. But, it made me wonder...why did they have to go and buy and flag? Didn't they already have one?...
So many images still exist in my mind of that fateful day...