In Remembrance

I know everyone is used to seeing pictures posted here, but today I feel compelled to write an entry. It’s September 11, 2007, six years after the attacks on the WTC. It’s an emotional day. I think it will always be an emotional day. It’s one of those days that you will always remember where you were when it happened. Who you were with. What you were doing at the exact moment you found out. Like when you found out that President Kennedy was shot or the day of the Challenger Space Shuttle disaster.

I was working on September 11, 2001. Angela called me and said that a plane flew into a building in NYC. Of course, at that time, that’s all we knew. A plane had flown into a building. Myself and a few others I worked with gathered in the conference room to watch the only TV in our office. A few minutes after 9:00, as we were standing there watching the news, the 2nd plane hit. We watched it. I remember watching the 2nd plane fly into the WTC, live. We knew then that this was no accident. 2 planes don’t accidentally hit New York City skyscrapers right next to each other on the same day. I knew this was bad. I sat at my desk all morning. I didn’t work. I watched streaming video of what was happening in the world. I watched the twin towers fall and thousands of people running for cover. I watched the video of the President being told of what was happening. I listened as they announced all aircraft to land and discovered that other aircraft had gone missing or possibly hijacked. I couldn’t handle being at work while this was going on. I went home to be with Tim, who gave his boss some excuse about needing to be with me. We watched the news every minute that day and called almost everyone we knew. My friend, Antonie, moved from New York City only a couple of weeks before 9/11 and I wasn’t certain she was safe. I couldn’t get a hold of her until that evening. We talked for hours about how devastating this was and how she worked near there and was on the observation deck of the WTC only weeks before. I remember how quiet things were that night, sitting outside talking on the phone. No planes flew. Nobody was out doing anything. It was quiet and everyone was with their family doing the same thing we were doing – watching and waiting.

Six years later, I remember almost every moment that day. I didn’t personally know anyone who was killed. I didn’t know anyone who was there, at ground zero. But I think all of us felt some sort of loss that day. And somehow, we grew from that. We became more patriotic. We became more united. We appreciated our freedom and we hated those who tried to take our patriotic spirit from us.

Tim and I visited Ground Zero a couple of summers ago. I cannot put into words exactly how it felt. Being there and seeing that lifeless hole in the ground, where 2 of the world’s tallest buildings once stood. There was a 9/11 timeline posting the events of that day. There were hundreds of people…just looking…observing…respecting…crying. It was so quiet and so peaceful. Oddly quiet for being the center of the financial district. There were hand-written messages on the walls to loved ones lost. There were neighboring buildings still being repaired from the damage of 2001. I loved that we were able to be there, but wished we could have seen what it was like before.

Toby wondered this morning why I was lowering my flag. For now, I have to tell him “because that’s what you do on September 11”. Someday, my children will learn about 9/11. They will study the events that took place that day in some history book. It will be like when I studied Vietnam or Pearl Harbor in my high school American History class. It may not mean much to them 10 or 15 years from now. But I will tell them how it affected those of us who lived through that day, and the days after, and reflected on the anniversaries and thought about the thousands who died that day. We will always remember. We will never forget.