On the morning of 9/11/01, I will never forget the radio alarm going off, and the dj saying, "Folks, you need to turn on your tv right now and see what is happening at the World Trade Center in NY." As soon as I turned the tv on, the second plane hit. I woke my husband up and made him sit up and see what was going on. It was obviously an attack. I decided to get my toddler dressed and ready to go to Mothers Day Out at church, just thinking that it was probably something that they might be able to eventually get control of. I thought it didn't affect me, so life would go on. By the time we left for the church, all radio stations had stopped regular programming and were broadcasting from their sister network newsfeeds (CNN, etc.) . As we were driving, word that the Pentagon had been bombed hit the news. At that point, I was like, "ok, we are at war!". Our drive was along the landing path for Nashville International Airport. It was an eery feeling watching jets landing 2 by 2 about 1 minute apart. On the radio, it was announced that we were closing down US airspace, and that was why I was seeing this strangeness in the sky. By the time we got to church, people were sitting in the sanctury, a minister was playing at the piano, and it was clear that were in a major national crisis. Then somebody who had a tv on said there were rumors of a bombing at the state department, the crash in Pennsylvania, and basically that all hell had broken loose on our country. At that point, I decided that I wasn't leaving Amanda anywhere. We were coming back home so she could be safe with me. Not at a very large and prominent church that could possibly become a target.
By the time we got home, one of the towers had fallen. I sat there in disbelief at what I was seeing. Then, I will never forget Peter Jennings asking one of his colleagues if what he was seeing was real...that the second building was falling, too. At first it was thought that up to 50,000 may have died in those buildings; thankfully, it was significantly less, but their value and who they were was no less important. I won't forget the scrolling at the bottom of the screen of what high rise buildings in Nashville were being evaucated. Wow, that was hitting so close to home. The closing of high rise buildings in cities all over the country was sobering. How many more were out there that could possibly do this?
I will never forget being glued to the tv the rest of that day, night, and the next day. Finding out about the Pentegon, learning of what happened on Flight 93. The search for survivors, and then finally resigning to the fact that anything now would be recovery of bodies...if bodies still existed. The makeshift boards on which family members & friends posted missing persons flyers on the slim chance that their loved one had possibly survived and made it to a hospital somehow or were even roaming the streets with amnesia.
Since then, I have heard many reports about how to tell your kids about what happened. I knew that my 6 year old was ready to hear it, so I first bought her the 9/11 Graphic Novel (comic), and explained as best I could without scaring her of what happened that day. I guess it helped her to understand that there are people out there who would kill innocent people and their own selves because of the very things America stands for. I don't believe in sugar coating the truth with Amanda. She needs to know the reality of life so she will be prepared for this very different world than the world her parents and grandparents grew up in.
With every anniversary that has passed, and every war report seen on a daily basis, I just pray to God that the mission of stopping the group of bastards who planned the attacks will come to a quick end, and those who did this will be brought to justice.
By the time we got home, one of the towers had fallen. I sat there in disbelief at what I was seeing. Then, I will never forget Peter Jennings asking one of his colleagues if what he was seeing was real...that the second building was falling, too. At first it was thought that up to 50,000 may have died in those buildings; thankfully, it was significantly less, but their value and who they were was no less important. I won't forget the scrolling at the bottom of the screen of what high rise buildings in Nashville were being evaucated. Wow, that was hitting so close to home. The closing of high rise buildings in cities all over the country was sobering. How many more were out there that could possibly do this?
I will never forget being glued to the tv the rest of that day, night, and the next day. Finding out about the Pentegon, learning of what happened on Flight 93. The search for survivors, and then finally resigning to the fact that anything now would be recovery of bodies...if bodies still existed. The makeshift boards on which family members & friends posted missing persons flyers on the slim chance that their loved one had possibly survived and made it to a hospital somehow or were even roaming the streets with amnesia.
Since then, I have heard many reports about how to tell your kids about what happened. I knew that my 6 year old was ready to hear it, so I first bought her the 9/11 Graphic Novel (comic), and explained as best I could without scaring her of what happened that day. I guess it helped her to understand that there are people out there who would kill innocent people and their own selves because of the very things America stands for. I don't believe in sugar coating the truth with Amanda. She needs to know the reality of life so she will be prepared for this very different world than the world her parents and grandparents grew up in.
With every anniversary that has passed, and every war report seen on a daily basis, I just pray to God that the mission of stopping the group of bastards who planned the attacks will come to a quick end, and those who did this will be brought to justice.
1 comment:
I was sitting at my dining room table reading the newspaper with the TODAY Show on; just like every other normal start of the day. And then things changed! After getting off the telephone, from talking to a few people about what a shocking thing that was happening right before our eyes), I started Video Taping different TV Channels, but by that time the Towers had already started falling! How could anyone ever forget the newscasts later that afternoon, showing how the Palestinians were dancing and celebrating in the Streets, because they were so happy with what was happening in the United States? We Americans should NEVER forget September 11, 2001...Never!
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