I'll never forget
Thanks to the encouragement from Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer last week, I'm writing my 9-11 story. Though I've recounted it numerous times, I've never written it down. Not only do I not ever want to forget the events and the feelings and the lessons of this horrific day, I write this for my children and grandchildren.
It began like every other normal Tuesday that year. I woke up early and got ready to leave to take my sister to her 8:00 a.m (CST) sewing class. The rest of my day was to be full of driving around to different homes teaching violin lessons.
I was having trouble concentrating on the tasks at hand, though, for although today was just another normal Tuesday, it wasn't really a normal Tuesday. It was my future husband's 21st birthday... his very first birthday to celebrate since we had begun courting. And I couldn't be there to celebrate it with him because Jesse had left three weeks before to travel 1200 miles away to Virginia to begin attending Patrick Henry College.
For the last three weeks, almost every waking thought had been about Jesse. Oh, how I missed him. Oh, how I wished I could just see him face-to-face. Oh, how I missed looking into his eyes and telling him I loved him!
But, I had to be strong. I had to. What else was there to do? Besides, in a few more weeks, we were going to visit him. I was counting down the days!
Despite these mental distractions, life had to go on.
My younger sister and I arrived at the little sewing machine shop and I stayed around until 8:45 a.m. (CST) when I was supposed to leave to teach the first violin lesson of that day. We were in a room at the back of the shop and I had noticed that for the past 20 minutes some of the employees were acting rather strange.
I got up to leave and on my way out, I glanced into the open doorway of the room next to the room we were in and I noticed all the employees were in there watching TV. After I got into my car and started pulling away, it dawned on me that there were no customers at the shop and there were no employees running the shop. All the employees were glued to the TV. I thought this seemed a bit strange and then it hit me...
Something must be up.
It was around 8:50 a.m. (CST) at this point. I flipped on the radio in my car and my heart skipped a beat. It was sheer panic on the radio. I couldn't make out what was going on but whatever it was, I knew it was something BAD. Really bad.
Nervously, I called my mom. "What is going on???" I quickly pleaded when she answered. She didn't know a whole lot at that point - a plane, maybe two planes, had hit the World Trade Center. There were more planes unaccounted for, the President was in an undisclosed location, there were other rumors flying madly about.
My thoughts were a jumbled mess. We're at war! Who did this? Is this an act of terrorists or was this done by another country? Aren't there thousands of people who work at the World Trade Center? I can't even imagine how many people were killed. The numbers must be astronomical. Are we safe here? Is anyone safe anywhere? Where else will planes strike? Is there going to be more attacks of a different kind?
I turned on the radio again and tried to make sense of what was happening. Everything was mass pandemonium. At that point, it seemed anything could happen. They started talking about these other unaccounted-for planes and other possible targets. I knew God was in control but why did this have to happen now, today, on Jesse's birthday, when he was 1200 miles away? I missed him so badly.
All I wanted to do was go home at this point. I just wanted to be with my family. I just wanted to be in front of a TV so I could see what was going on. Maybe seeing it would help me feel better about things, I thought.
For some reason, though, I didn't go home. Instead, I went and taught all the lessons. I'm still not sure why.
After the first lesson, Jesse called me on my cell phone. He was panicked. They couldn't get any TV reception where he was and all sorts of rumors were coming in. Their school was near Camp David and near D.C. and with so many planes seemingly unaccounted for still, they thought they could be right in the line of disaster.
What could I say to him? I felt so far away, so alone, so helpless. I tried to stay calm, tried to give him any pieces of good news I heard, but there really wasn't much to share. The news just kept getting worse.
The rest of the day is somewhat a blur. I somehow made it through all the lessons I was to teach and finally got home in the middle of the afternoon. By that time, the worst of things were over and there wasn't much new to cover on TV.
I remember that the reporters kept talking about these huge triage centers which were set up for all the hundreds of people they were going to pull out of the wreckage. I kept waiting to hear that they had pulled someone out. I just knew there had to be big pockets of hundreds of survivors stuck in the rubble somewhere. What no one could grasp at that point was that there weren't any survivors.
We were in shock. I wondered for days afterwards if we were going to wake up to another whole day of attacks. I hated being 1200 miles away from Jesse without any way of quickly getting to him if something happened to him. There were no flights to catch and even if any flights were in operation, who would want to fly into D.C.?
We were in shock, yes, and yet everyone was so united. I remember going to the grocery store and almost everyone was dressed in patriotic colors. You would have thought it was the Fourth of July. Flags were everywhere. People were donating blood, money, supplies. There were special prayer meetings and candlelight vigils. Churches were full and people were thinking about death, dying, and their eternal destiny. Our whole nation was rallying around each other in unity and it was a beautiful sight to behold.
On that day, we each experienced loss of some sort. For me, it was the resulting cancellation of our planned October trip to visit Jesse. My dad was wise to not want us to fly into D.C. just a few weeks after the attacks, but it was heartbreaking to not get to see Jesse. I thought that being separated from him for 60 days was going to be hard enough. Now I had to wait to see him again until Thanksgiving!
And yet, inspite of the heartache of separation and the heartbreak of a cancelled trip, I couldn't help but think how blessed I was. How many people had suffered excruciating losses on September 11 and would never again see their loved one on this earth and here I was agonizing that I had to wait two more months until I could see my loved one again. Compared to them, I had so much to be thankful for.
Sometimes, in the midst of the whirlwind of life, something happens which causes all of the normal hurrying and scurrying to halt, the usual daily pressing matters to blur, and the most important things to come into focus.
September 11, 2001 was one of those days.
I'll never forget.
I also highly recommend this great article from yesterday by Peggy Noonan, "I Just Called to Say I Love You."
If you would like to share your 9-11 story on your blog, be sure to post your link on Shannon's site. Also, there are close to 100 other blogger's stories listed there. If you don't have a blog and want to share, feel free to leave it in a comment on my blog but, more importantly, make sure to print a few copies of your story to save to pass down to your children and grandchildren. Let us never forget!
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It began like every other normal Tuesday that year. I woke up early and got ready to leave to take my sister to her 8:00 a.m (CST) sewing class. The rest of my day was to be full of driving around to different homes teaching violin lessons.
I was having trouble concentrating on the tasks at hand, though, for although today was just another normal Tuesday, it wasn't really a normal Tuesday. It was my future husband's 21st birthday... his very first birthday to celebrate since we had begun courting. And I couldn't be there to celebrate it with him because Jesse had left three weeks before to travel 1200 miles away to Virginia to begin attending Patrick Henry College.
For the last three weeks, almost every waking thought had been about Jesse. Oh, how I missed him. Oh, how I wished I could just see him face-to-face. Oh, how I missed looking into his eyes and telling him I loved him!
But, I had to be strong. I had to. What else was there to do? Besides, in a few more weeks, we were going to visit him. I was counting down the days!
Despite these mental distractions, life had to go on.
My younger sister and I arrived at the little sewing machine shop and I stayed around until 8:45 a.m. (CST) when I was supposed to leave to teach the first violin lesson of that day. We were in a room at the back of the shop and I had noticed that for the past 20 minutes some of the employees were acting rather strange.
I got up to leave and on my way out, I glanced into the open doorway of the room next to the room we were in and I noticed all the employees were in there watching TV. After I got into my car and started pulling away, it dawned on me that there were no customers at the shop and there were no employees running the shop. All the employees were glued to the TV. I thought this seemed a bit strange and then it hit me...
Something must be up.
It was around 8:50 a.m. (CST) at this point. I flipped on the radio in my car and my heart skipped a beat. It was sheer panic on the radio. I couldn't make out what was going on but whatever it was, I knew it was something BAD. Really bad.
Nervously, I called my mom. "What is going on???" I quickly pleaded when she answered. She didn't know a whole lot at that point - a plane, maybe two planes, had hit the World Trade Center. There were more planes unaccounted for, the President was in an undisclosed location, there were other rumors flying madly about.
My thoughts were a jumbled mess. We're at war! Who did this? Is this an act of terrorists or was this done by another country? Aren't there thousands of people who work at the World Trade Center? I can't even imagine how many people were killed. The numbers must be astronomical. Are we safe here? Is anyone safe anywhere? Where else will planes strike? Is there going to be more attacks of a different kind?
I turned on the radio again and tried to make sense of what was happening. Everything was mass pandemonium. At that point, it seemed anything could happen. They started talking about these other unaccounted-for planes and other possible targets. I knew God was in control but why did this have to happen now, today, on Jesse's birthday, when he was 1200 miles away? I missed him so badly.
All I wanted to do was go home at this point. I just wanted to be with my family. I just wanted to be in front of a TV so I could see what was going on. Maybe seeing it would help me feel better about things, I thought.
For some reason, though, I didn't go home. Instead, I went and taught all the lessons. I'm still not sure why.
After the first lesson, Jesse called me on my cell phone. He was panicked. They couldn't get any TV reception where he was and all sorts of rumors were coming in. Their school was near Camp David and near D.C. and with so many planes seemingly unaccounted for still, they thought they could be right in the line of disaster.
What could I say to him? I felt so far away, so alone, so helpless. I tried to stay calm, tried to give him any pieces of good news I heard, but there really wasn't much to share. The news just kept getting worse.
The rest of the day is somewhat a blur. I somehow made it through all the lessons I was to teach and finally got home in the middle of the afternoon. By that time, the worst of things were over and there wasn't much new to cover on TV.
I remember that the reporters kept talking about these huge triage centers which were set up for all the hundreds of people they were going to pull out of the wreckage. I kept waiting to hear that they had pulled someone out. I just knew there had to be big pockets of hundreds of survivors stuck in the rubble somewhere. What no one could grasp at that point was that there weren't any survivors.
We were in shock. I wondered for days afterwards if we were going to wake up to another whole day of attacks. I hated being 1200 miles away from Jesse without any way of quickly getting to him if something happened to him. There were no flights to catch and even if any flights were in operation, who would want to fly into D.C.?
We were in shock, yes, and yet everyone was so united. I remember going to the grocery store and almost everyone was dressed in patriotic colors. You would have thought it was the Fourth of July. Flags were everywhere. People were donating blood, money, supplies. There were special prayer meetings and candlelight vigils. Churches were full and people were thinking about death, dying, and their eternal destiny. Our whole nation was rallying around each other in unity and it was a beautiful sight to behold.
On that day, we each experienced loss of some sort. For me, it was the resulting cancellation of our planned October trip to visit Jesse. My dad was wise to not want us to fly into D.C. just a few weeks after the attacks, but it was heartbreaking to not get to see Jesse. I thought that being separated from him for 60 days was going to be hard enough. Now I had to wait to see him again until Thanksgiving!
And yet, inspite of the heartache of separation and the heartbreak of a cancelled trip, I couldn't help but think how blessed I was. How many people had suffered excruciating losses on September 11 and would never again see their loved one on this earth and here I was agonizing that I had to wait two more months until I could see my loved one again. Compared to them, I had so much to be thankful for.
Sometimes, in the midst of the whirlwind of life, something happens which causes all of the normal hurrying and scurrying to halt, the usual daily pressing matters to blur, and the most important things to come into focus.
September 11, 2001 was one of those days.
I'll never forget.
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Related: Since September 11, 2001, I've read upwards of thirty books on the subject which recounted the horrors and heroes of that day. The best one I read and one I would highly recommend is 102 Minutes. It is graphic, dramatic, has some language, and is not written from a Christian perspective, but it tells the stories you probably won't hear or haven't heard elsewhere.I also highly recommend this great article from yesterday by Peggy Noonan, "I Just Called to Say I Love You."
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If you would like to share your 9-11 story on your blog, be sure to post your link on Shannon's site. Also, there are close to 100 other blogger's stories listed there. If you don't have a blog and want to share, feel free to leave it in a comment on my blog but, more importantly, make sure to print a few copies of your story to save to pass down to your children and grandchildren. Let us never forget!
posted by Crystal Paine at 3:43 PM
17 Comments:
The cycle of life amazes me, how tragedy helps us to put life into perspective, to be more thankful and grateful. Thank you for sharing and for stopping by my blog.
I read Peggy Noonans article at work on friday.. it was very good.
My parents generations shipped off to war and some were gone four years before being back in each others arms.
But it doesn't change for those who didn't come home.
Thanks for letting me pop into your memory of that day
Something bothers me though, like a few months after 9/11. Alright, during this thing, all of a sudden, people started waking up and fleeing to churches and wondering if there really is a God and it made people think about eternity. Churches were packed for several months with people yearning and wondering and hopefully hearing the Gospel message of Jesus Christ.
But then...the chaos subsided, people went back to their little lives, God was packed back up in the box and not to be taken out again until something really bad happens again. I don't know about you, but that really irks me. The terrorist attacks were, in a way God's wake up call to America to come to Him, to draw unto Him. Many did, but now departed for the world's ways again. What will it take for people too see that God is not to be mocked, not a myth or fairytale? Will it take another September 11th? I really hope not.
God Bless You!!! <><
I've never written up "my story" but I still remember it very clearly. I was 16 at the time. We had no idea what was going on or that something had happened until a friend from So. Cal called us because she had turned her tv on. So she told us to turn on ours and I remember being a daze for the rest of the day.... it was so surreal.
~Samantha
Thank you for sharing your story!
I do not read many things about 9/11. I am a military wife and my husband is back in the middle east. My husband had just gotten home on 9/9/2001. We were out walking on the base. We got home to a frantic phone call from my mom. I turned on the TV and cried. I knew it meant my husband would be leaving again and he did in the beginning of Oct. Before 9/11 I did not worry when he deployed now it is a whole new ball game. I do worry about his safety. More importantly I worry that our children will not understand why their dad does what he does. I want them to know daddy is a hero that he is in the military because he truely loves this country. He wants this to be a safe place for his kids. He knows somebody has to do it. My husband is just one of these thousands of heroes who say I am just doing my job. I get so angry when I hear people say what are we doing in Iraq and that the west is at fault. I get very angry at people who do not seem to realize that if it wasn't for the President and our military we would have been attacked again. 9/11 changed my life because I now face the possiblity of losing my husband. 9/11 changed my life because I realized on that day that my country is worth the sacrfice my husband makes, it is worth being apart sometimes, and my country would not exist if men like my husband did not do their job. I have rambled on enough. I am going to remind my kids how great their dad is. Thanks for the space
I LOVE your idea of printing off some of the stories shared to share with future generations! Good thing my husband brought home printer paper yesterday. =) -Tiffany
It's good that you wrote your experience down for Kathrynee and your descendants - it's important that we never forget.
Sept. 11, 2001 was our 3rd wedding anniversary. My husband had left for his morning classes at law school, and I had laid down on the couch to doze for a few more moments before our two children woke up. He called from the school to tell me what happened, then he came home from classes early. I had errands to run that day, and I managed to get through them and cook a decent anniversary dinner. We stayed up all night and watched the coverage. It seemed surreal. Now, every year I'm torn between remembering the past, and wanting to celebrate another anniversary. Also, my little brother joined the Marines in 2003, and he just recently returned from a tour in Iraq. I choose to honor him and my husband on this day.
I'm glad you wrote this down and I'm glad I read it. How frightening to have your fiance so near the targets!
You must be a woman of incredible discipline to be able to concentrate through a day filled with violin lessons during all that. I surely didn't function well for the rest of the week.
Crystal,
I posted my own memories of that day at our blog.
Thank you for the tip about 102 Minutes. I just checked and verified that I can request it through our local library sytem. It sounds a lot like one that I am reading right now Never Forget: An Oral History of September 11, 2001. Did you ever read that one? I think it was published in 2002, so the 102 Minutes will certainly have more current information.
"Sometimes, in the midst of the whirlwind of life, something happens which causes all of the normal hurrying and scurrying to halt, the usual daily pressing matters to blur, and the most important things to come into focus."
Amen -- so true.
I'm going to go check out that Peggy Noonan article.
Crystal,
What a great idea- thank you for the referral. I have posted my story at Christian Womanhood. I have such poignant memories of that time, and it is so important to order those memories.
Thank you for sharing your story. I was teaching in an elementary class this morning, and it occurred to me that most of those kids are too young to even remember! How quickly the generations pass by...and it just becomes 'history.' But it is something that none of us who experienced it will ever forget.
I shared my story here:
http://rachammett.blogspot.com/2006/09/9-11.html
Thanks for sharing! So much of my personal life circumstances coincided with that tragedic day and the power of rebuilding. I blogged it here: I Remember
Hugs,
Holly
HollysCorner.com
I was on my way to the vet. I remember stopping at Dunkin' Donuts to get a coffee and seeing everyone watch the towers fall. I knew my cousin worked in that area, but I couldn't remember if he worked in the towers.
I worked a second shift as a nurse that afternoon and will never forget the somber atmosphere. One patient who was in WWII and dying of cancer was especially upset. He even started hallucinating. He was afraid that they would "take his grandson to fight and that all the work he did in the first war was for nothing." The grandson(who was about 30 yrs old) had to come in to be with him for the day.
By the end of the day I did find out that my cousin was OK and worked in another building. However, the year before, he was offered a job in one of the towers on the 98th floor. Wow.
My cousin said that New York was like a war zone. He spent 6 hrs walking around it trying to get back to Jersey. He is now a cop...go figure?
I haven't read much about 9/11, but I did read, "Lets Roll." That book made me cry. I can't bring myself to see any of the movies about it, but I did watch that ABC special they aired last night. The rest will be aired tonight. I am mainly watching it because of the controversy around it. It is well done. Now I'm interested to read the 9/11 commission report.
~Anonymous~
I too am a military spouse (Army) and I am with you 100%. My husband and his unit left for Iraq September 2005 and I am proud to say that they will be home this Friday (15th) in the evening. I am soooo excited. None of the men were injured or killed while serving in the desert and for that I am thankfull. We need to continue to uplift the rest of the soldiers and our President as well in prayer. He doesn't have an easy job. I hate when people bash him like he's stupid or something. He's one of the first presidents I know of that isn't scared to mention God and live out his beliefs. Praise God!!!!
Watching all the news shows yesterday regarding the 5 year anniversary made me get chocked up. My heart breaks for all those lost, but, I also know, that, as a nation, we must move on and keep living.
Wow! I really appreciate all the comments, stories, reflections, input... Dawn Marie, I so agree. Oh and I'm SO EXCITED for you about your husband returning!! I can't imagine how you must be counting down the hours!
Jessica: I probably read the one you mentioned. 102 Minutes has a ton of information and stories I didn't read anywhere else. The authors spent two years researching it to write it and did a very thorough job. Since it was published much later than most of the other accounts, it seems they were really able to gather a lot more information. I'd check your library for it.
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