I don't think you realize how fast time goes by until you think back on something as monumental as 9/11 and can't believe it happened 17 years ago. Everything about the world as we know it changed that day and it's nearly impossible to remember life before.
I don't have a compelling 9/11 story. It was just an ordinary day, but it was a beautiful day, the sky just as clear and blue in Vermont as it was in lower Manhattan. I went into work for 9, turned on my computer, checked out the news as I always do, and read reports of the first tower being hit. I immediately picked up the phone and called my mom to tell her to turn on the news. Then my boss called out from his office that the second tower had been hit. My co-workers and I all went into his office because his was the only computer able to stream live video and everyone immediately understood the gravity of the situation. Somehow we managed to get back to work, but as the Pentagon, Shanksville, and the collapses happened we all gathered together again.
At lunchtime I went to the grocery store and a television was even set up in there. Everyone was so quiet, just going through the motions. I went home, turned on the news, and didn't turn it off for days. I became a news junkie, watching as we lost our innocence and became a nation at war.
Every year since the television airwaves are flooded with memorial specials, and I watch them all. I don't ever want to forget the horror of that day and how our lives changed because of it. Time marches on and we can't live in the past, but allowing ourselves to forget the magnitude of what happened can never be an option.
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"And on this day, in the year 2001, deals were made high in the sky, meals were bought and eaten on the move, trains arrived, keys were cut, clothes were bought and returned, thousands came and went, and the nation enjoyed the final night of peace."
The Fox Report with Shepard Smith, 9/10/03
14 comments:
Still hard to believe the happened :(
Never forgotten.
That was one heartbreaking day
Lily & Edward
And still many unanswered questions. We still mourn for all.
Melissa this was a wonderful post. I also have watched every documentary that comes my way on this sad but important day. I love your graphic and your quote, and your memories.
Thanks for remembering. Feel blessed that you saw it on tv and not in front of your window. TW still watches the 9.11 ceremony from Ground Zero every year although not from the beginning anymore. Pop watches all the documentaries but, again, he doesn't watch them all. TW is finding as the years go by, the images get harder to look at. OTOP, I thought that you in our courtyard, MP, looking at the pre-9.11 skyline.
Melissa,
I remember very well that beautiful gorgeous blue September 11 morning. I slept in a bit longer than usual, got up, and tried getting online to check email. This was in the day that we had dial-up service. The Internet was bombard and I couldn't even connect. It wasn't until I called DH when he said, "Turn the news on." This is something I did not do but I went straight to the living room flipped the channel when my eyes were met with horror as the the first WTC tower collapsed. I was paralyzed and could barely speak. We didn't have homeschool that day. How could we when our minds were on this tragic, needless act of violence against innocent lives perpetrated by evil people who hate America and that she stands for. My heart goes out to every family who lost loved ones that day. The horrors surprised indirectly touched my life when I learned a cousin I barely knew, daughter was killed in the Pentagon attack. None of us ever be the same and I've said the before I hope that we aren't because I don't want us to ever grow numb or forget this horrible act against America and her people. Thanks for sharing your remembrance and God bless!
This tragic day, and those who lost their lives, will never be forgotten. I was in 7th grade on September 11, 2001. I vividly remember the principal coming into my first period classroom and handing the teacher a piece of paper. I remember wondering and worrying what was going, because the look on my teacher's face as she read the note she'd been handed was beyond concerning. My teacher was able to compose herself enough to inform us that the first tower had been hit. I went to a Catholic school, and by the time the second tower was hit, the entire school had assembled in the adjoining church, where we sat in silence, praying, for hours.
I will never forget. Even more so because I've heard the stories first-hand - of people with loved ones in the buildings - of first responder families - of the survivors. Even more, I've heard the stories of people who refuse to fly because of that day. As someone in St Louis, it's hard to really understand what happened that day - the terror - the lasting fears - but I'll always listen. That's the best way to honor the people who can't forget.
ps - Shout out to Mudpie today on our blog. Toward the end, Bear's inbox. She tells Bear she won't leave you to run off with him ;)
Such a sad day that no one will forget. XO
Hard to believe it’s been 17 years. Seems like only yesterday....we will never forget.
Our mom remembers 9/11 all too well. It was a terrifying day here in NYC. We're glad it's behind the city now.
I remember it differently from most people--though vividly--because my husband and I *did* turn off the television.
And found ourselves strangely remaining dovish in what seemed to become, overnight, a hawk nation...it was almost enough to make a person embrace Michael Moore's conspiracy theory, although neither of us did.
What a sad day. I think every American remembers where they were when they heard.
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