Friday, September 11, 2009

9/11 Where were you when?

I remember that day like it was yesterday. I probably always will. 9/11 is one of those events in history like the assassination of JFK that will always be with us. Those of us who are old enough to remember will always be able to tell our kids, and our grand kids what we were doing when our world changed forever.


I was at work. Same place I work today but a different building. I was 25 years old, not married, not a mother yet. I was still dating Joe and we would get engaged about 3 weeks later. I was sitting at my desk and I received an email from a friend of mine that worked in another office that just said "a plane hit one of the world trade center towers" I remember thinking and emailing him back, "whoa, that sucks" having NO idea the depth of what was going on. I remember thinking it was a small plane in the wrong place because jets just did not fly that close to the city. I did not even bother to look it up on CNN.com. Why would I? Nothing really bad ever happens in the US right?



It was not until he emailed me again telling me about the 2nd plane that it really registered that something big was happening. By now the news was filtering through my office and people were turning radio's on to listen to the news. By now we knew that our nation was under attack.



I called Joe right away. He is in the Air National Guard and works full time at a base here in town. I remember asking him what was happening and him telling me that he did not know. Eventually he was locked down at the base, no one was allowed to leave until further notice which ended up being about 9 or 10 that night.

The day went on, 2 more planes crashed and the entire world was scared. That night I was glued to the TV watching with tears the towers fall again and again on the news. I tried to sleep that night and kept waking up and turning the TV on all through the night.



I did not personally know anyone who was hurt or lost their life that day. My roommate's best friend was SUPPOSED to be working downtown that day but she had called in sick. It's little details like that that I wont ever be able to forget.



I was able to visit Ground 0 this year and even though the memorials have been taken down and the area replaced by construction fences to rebuild I still felt the sadness to be standing there where so many people died. When Joe and I were in DC this year we got to see the 9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon and see where the building was rebuilt.








We all have different political views in this country. That fact that we can HAVE those opinions is one more reason why we are proud to be Americans. Regardless of your political beliefs 9/11 brought us all together and I hope that no one ever forgets that day and what it did to our country.



Where were you?



post signature

10 people fed my need for attention:

Martha@A Sense of Humor is Essential

Beautiful post, Cammie, thanks for sharing your story.
I was home, just waking up on the West Coast and reading about Michael Jordan's return to the NBA Wizards. My hubby called to tell me to turn on the radio.
Our world has never been the same since.
I remember reading a Headline the next day from overseas that said, "We Are All Americans".

tomandcheryl

check my blog to see where we were!
~Cheryl

Kami

Thanks for the post, Cammie.
I was at work conducting an early staff meeting when someone ran into the breakroom we were in and flipped on the TV, just in time for us to see the second plane hit.
I was glued to the TV the rest of the day and evening too, and also kept it on most of the night. I STILL feel like "this can't be happening" about it all.

Jim Brochowski

Great post Cammie. Thank you for sharing your story. Everyone says our generation, (I know you're a lot younger than I am.. go with it.) would escape any significant tragedy. That day that all changed. I didn't know anybody personally either, but my heart still aches every time I reflect on that day. We are all Americans, and it only seems fitting that today, the end of this week is 9/11 after all the craziness that has been going in the political world. It's not about politics. It's about America. I hope people are remembering that today.

Kelly

I was at home getting ready for work. I was watching that "28 Days" movie with Sandra Bullock, and then tuned to ABC because Regis & Kelly was on. Only it wasn't, because there was a plane in one of the towers. At that point, everyone thought it was a small plane, an accident. I thank my lucky stars every day that Jason wasn't in the city that day. He ALWAYS is, but that day he wasn't. My dad lost quite a few of his firefighter friends.

Susan

Wonderful post. I was at work, getting my nursery classroom ready for Mother's Day Out when my partner teacher came in and told me. My daughter was upstairs from me in her 3 year old kindergarten classroom. I wanted to run upstairs, take her home and just never let go. I'll never forget.

Kamis Khlopchyk

I am Canadian, however, it was equally memorable a day for me. I remember exactly the moment I got a call from a friend to turn on CNN and I could not believe what was happening....and we watched the towers fall on live TV. I still get goose bumps.

I was nursing my brand new baby thinking why have I brought new life into a world where this can happen?

Excellent post. That story about the friend's friend who called in sick...goosebumps.

Big Mama Cass

It was a day that none of us will ever forget. Great post. Was so neat of you to share your story!

Sarah

I was in my office, reading a morning devotion. My sister called, and my first thought was "no way."

roadrunner201

Thanks for posting this. It seems a life time ago, but also not that long ago.

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