(The photo is from Reuters off a news web site)
Turned on the TV this morning to watch the weather. and instead found the 9/11 tribute being covered by GMA on ABC. I knew that the 11th was coming up, but forgot till I saw the coverage, that it was today.
I remember that fateful morning so well - it is one of the historic events of my adult life that will probably stick out in my mind forever.
Hubby and I were both getting ready for work and had Good Morning America on as always - listening to the news/weather as we migrated back & forth between the bedroom and bathroom getting ready for the day. I even remember what I was wearing - a blue jacket with white pants - don't know why but I remember that I had that blazer on for whatever reason.
Just as I was about to leave for work the news reported that "something" had hit one of the World Trade Centers. At that point Charlie Gibson and Diane Sawyer were both just totally confused and reporting that maybe it was a missile and maybe it was a small commuter plane. They really had no idea till they had some ground reporter, who happened to be in the area, called in on a cell phone sounding totally in awe of what he had seen as he was trying to explain to Charlie & Diane that this was not a commuter plane, but something much bigger.
Although both late for work at this point, hubby and I both stood directly in front of the TV and watched as the second plane hit tower two. We grabbed each other and said "oh my god" is that what I think it is? From that point we both left for work listening to the radio the whole way and just in total disbelief. When I got to the bank that morning all of us in the bank were glued to our tiny little TV in the break room - we finally brought it out and put in on the teller line on the counter so we & our customers could stay tuned. Shortly after that we saw the breaking report of the Pentagon being hit. I distinctly remember grabbing my boss's arm and she and I both looked at each other with complete panic, shock and terror - not speaking a word but we knew exactly what the other was thinking. The unthinkable had happened - the very symbol of our nation's armed forces and security had been breeched. Everyone in the branch just stood still. Not long after that we heard about the crash of the 4th plane - the one that was headed for the White House - even more disbelief. Then, other people that worked for Smith Barney, and Merrill Lynch in the building were coming down saying that they were shutting down b/c of all the chaos and so we decided it was best to close up the bank for the day, too as we didn't want to be the only financial institution open in the building. (When the country starts to panic it brings "crazies" out and the first place they come is to rob a bank. ) At some point during all of this I called my mom and sis to make sure they'd heard the news - I vaguely remember doing that. I then cashed a check for some "whatever money" took off , gassed up my little BMW on the way home, as I was worried about having gas, and sped home as fast as I could. I pulled on some sweats and spent the entire day glued to the tube. Calling hubby and mom and sis every hour it seemed to talk about it. I remember hubby and I didn't even want to go to bed b/c of the TV coverage.
Other thoughts I remember about that day were:
looking at the sky all day, thinking, planes had become weapons?
where was the President, and was he safe?
realizing all air transportation (not just commercial but all aircraft except the armed forces) had quickly grinded to a halt.
would we soon see military in the streets?
what else is happening? are there other attacks to follow?
I remember it took me awhile to realize that the planes were full of passengers. When I first heard about the crashes I don't know why but it never occurred to me that the planes were full - I was only thinking of the people in the tower and the Pentagon. After I realized that the planes were full I remember I began to feel sick.
Five years later and is America any safer? Who really knows. I just told hubby this morning that America is pretty lucky that more damage wasn't done on that day. Not that what happened wasn't huge b/c it was massive but just imagine if there had been more operatives on more planes in other big cities. I mean seriously we had no clue about something of that nature happening on an airplane. That idea was totally "off our radar" at that point - especially for the pilots and airport security people.
Things are better the country is healing but we will never forget and never should.
We must continue to be vigilant in our everyday lives - I think that is the key. We are busy on cell phones, and iPods and in our own cars - we live in our own little "bubbles" and are often unaware of what is going on around us. Mostly b/c we don't want to be bothered but I think we need to be more aware on a daily basis. I guess being a mom of two makes me more skeptical these days but seems I'm always on the "look out" when I'm out and about.
Today I say a prayer for each family member who lost someone in that horrific act of hatred and I also say a prayer of thanks that our nation is still free today.
Fly a flag today and take a moment to remember those lost today.
