I think that for most of us we can all remember the moments that surrounded the 9/11 tragedy that struck our nation seven years ago.
I remember where I was... I was in the my office at the university that I was working at as a Student Affairs Professional. I believe it was J-Mom who called me and told me to turn on the radio because it looked like a plane had collided with one of the twin towers. Unbeknownst to us was all the malice that was behind the first attack, let alone the subsequent attacks within New York City as well as the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania.
I remember hearing this and calling my colleagues to fins a television that we could turn on and we watched in our main office as the tragedy revealed itself. I was numb, dumbstruck. Only once before had I felt this way, and that was when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded. I simply had never witnessed such hatred, such a loss of life and later that week we found out how close to home this hit our family.
The Saturday before 9/11 J-Mom and I celebrated the wedding of a high school friend of J-Mom. The wedding was a wonderful event full of love and laughter. At that event I was able to meet a friend of the bride named Kelly Ann Booms who sat in front of us during the wedding. She made a comment that she had to get back to Boston on Sunday because she had a business trip that she had to fly out for (to Los Angeles) early on Tuesday morning (9/11). Later that week we found out that Kelly was a passenger on the first plane that hit Tower 1 (Flight 11). We were shocked that someone we just spoke with could be gone in an instant and it brought the national tragedy to a whole new level of meaning. We now felt a part of this tragedy and not as far removed.
The images of the first few hours, the first few days afterward still are burned into my memory and I think they will never leave. For my generation, I think that this even will be the event that truly defines our generation as it may have been Pearl Harbor for my grandparents of the JFK assassination of JFK for my own parents.
So today, seven years later I take a moment to remember Kelly and the other victims of the 9/11 attacks. May we never again live through such an event.
When my daughters get old enough to understand the significance of this day I will help them understand, but it will not be easy for the to grasp the severity of the events and what it did to the American Spirit that followed. I can only hope that I will be ready for this discussion when the time comes.
So my question for the day?
- What are your memories of this event in our collective history?
- How will you tell your children about this event in the future?
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4 comments:
My memories of that day.
I was at home with an infant and babysitting. I was watching someting on tv and a blurb came in about a plane hitting the first building. I called my sister and told her. I thought, man, how can a pilot crash into a building head on? Was his auto pilot not working. I thought it was pilot error at first. Then, in horror, I watched the second tower get hit. My mouth dropped open and I thought, something isn't right. I continued to be glued to the television for the rest of the day. The baby that I was watching, her mom called in tears and just wanted to hear that her daughter was alright. We were far from NYC, in the FL Keys, but the terror hit everyone. Later, my dad called and wanted to hear my voice. He is gone now, but wanted to know that I was alright. I remember him saying, "wow, what a messed up world we live in". I remember crying and holding my daughter a lot during the day. Life just got more precious.
My husband was to graduate the Police Academy that weekend. All of the graduated parents were on their way down for the graduation. They all ended up driving down since all air traffic was cancelled. They cancelled the graduation at the last minute. We were able to get the county to do a small ceremony since so many came from far away, taking other means of transportation. I had the honor of placing my husbands badge on his chest for the first time. Although we were holding a ceremony for America's bravest in celebration, the events of the days before were not out of the ceremony. The first time my husband had a badge on his chest; the badge was covered with a black line. It was the black line of mourning that so many displayed on their chest and the rest of us in our hearts.
How do I explain to my children the horror and hatred of the day of 9-11-01? Honestly. I will help each look at pictures, explain why this happend and answer any questions they may have. I don't think that sugar coating the topic should be done. My children have had such an easy life compared to thoes who lived through the horrors of moms or dads or other family members never coming home. They never had to live through a war on the homefront, a holocost, starvation or hatred. Honesty is the best way to educate our children, don't hold back, be honest, they will thank you someday. My dad was in the Vietnam War and I never heard stories. My dad held history in his heart and couldn't let it out. He is gone now and so is that crutial part of history. Not just American History, but my dads own personal history. I know some of the stories now that he is gone, my husband promised my dad never to tell me these stories so that I wouldn't think less of him. I wish that he would have been honest with me, I would have loved him just the same. So, why am I telling you this? Because, if you aren't honest with your children about the past, they will never know the real truth. The truth can hurt, but so can not knowing. So, I say, go, be honest and answer your childrens questions honestly, don't hold back.
May we remember the victims of this day in our hearts forever, pray for them, all of their bravery, and for their families that will never see them again until they are reunited in heaven.
I was getting ready for work. Yes, those images are burned into my memory and I will take them to my grave. So tragic.
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Nice tribute. I was getting ready to get ready for work; Howard was on the radio, the TV's sound was muted.
I finally looked up and saw the tower with smoke pouring out of it and said "what the...", and then turned the sound on and just then my sister called and we watched and talked about it for a few minutes until the 2nd plane hit.
We were both "Oh my God..."
For the next week or more my nabes was like a demilitarized zone or something, only official traffic allowed. Lots of firetrucks and buses filled with fireman and rescue workers streamed through the neighborhood on their way down to Ground Zero.
Thankfully I lost no one, but know many people who did. Including a friend at work who had joined us from Cantor Fitzgerald after being there for 10 years. He lost over 100 friends and acquaintances, including 3 of this best friends who I had met at a birthday party at a club about 6-12 months before.
They loved the nickname I had given him.
A friend of mine called his wife at home and said "Go and get a few hundred dollars out of an ATM, quick!" She finally had to go way uptown to find one that still had cash in it. But on the way back to their apartment she ran into many upper-class Mommies out on the streets with their little kids and no way to get cash, and all of them crying and scared, and so little by little she gave away all her money to these scared and crying young Mothers.
So many stories, maybe I'll recount more next year; thanks for this prompt.
We must not let people forget, and we must never refuse to recognize evil.
:(
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we will NOT forget
you 9/11 victims
will get justice
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painful truth -
9/11 should be our
wakeup call
.
get Bin Laden -
we just need big SWAT team
and search warrant
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absurd thought -
God of the Universe says
there is no good or evil
every thing's relative
don't judge a terrorist
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All real freedom starts with freedom of speech. Without freedom of speech there can be no real freedom.
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Philosophy of Liberty Cartoon
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Help Halt Terrorism Today!
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We will NEVER forget!
:)
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I was teaching elementary school. We were not allowed to tell the kids until the end of the day, but we pulled a TV into the lounge to keep up with things. My husband emailed several times from the TV station where he works before getting sent out eventually to cover the airport and local government reactions.
I remember thinking "I need to fill my van with gas!", seeing the lines a block long, and deciding I really needed to be with my kids more than I needed gas.
What a day. My children, now 16 and 21, remember it well. They will need to teach their children about their Day of Infamy.
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