I woke up this morning to perfectly blue skies and the beautiful mountains of northern NM. The first thing I thought of was that it was Tuesday. Then I remembered it was Tuesday, September 11th. The last Tuesday, September 11th I experienced was one of the worst and saddest days for all of us. Where was I when it happened? Sort of like, I remember where I was when Kennedy was shot-I was in 4th grade and my teacher told us-she was crying. On 9/11/01, I had just finished running with my friend Val. I was driving in my car to H's office to do some paperwork. I heard on the radio something about a plane going into the World Trade Center. Becca called me and we talked about it. We turned the TV on at the office. No one could believe it was happening. I remember thinking that there may be 50,000 people killed. I was in shock, as so many others were. I turned on my TV this morning and they were re-playing live those events on 9/11/01. It was interesting now to hear how things unfolded. The news people sounding so calm-how did they do that? I was one of those people who watched TV non-stop for days after the attack. Hartley couldn't watch at all..This morning was the first time he even saw the news broadcast. I remember those holding up signs that their loved ones were missing, emergency rooms unfilled because most were killed when the buildings fell. I cried and cried. The 110 story buildings fell.. So hard to comprehend even now how catastrophic it really was. I am sure the images only show a minute portion of the magnificence of the situation. I had 2 clients that moved to New Mexico and saw me in counseling after the buildings fell. Just hearing their stories made me grieve..grieve for all those families, children, husband, wives, brothers, sisters, friends that lost someone they loved. The effect on our country has been enormous. I remember as a counselor thinking that we are a country walking around traumatized. No one will ever be the same who witnessed 9/11, even if it was only on TV or hearsay..
Yet..life still goes on for all of us. Here in Chama the trees still stand. I just heard a plane fly overhead. The dog is sleeping. Another blue sky and bright sun..
Where were you when it happened?
4 comments:
I was at work when I watched the buildings crumble. A bunch of us were standing around someone's computer that had a live feed going. I was sad and scared and speechless. My husband had flown out of state for work the day prior and he called me to make sure that I knew what had happened. I hugged my kids when they came home from school that day. I watched CNN all night.
My husband had flown the day earlier for work and called me shortly after it happened. Had it been one day earlier, he would have been in the air at the time of the attacks.
I thought a lot about all those people who would never see their loved ones again and prayed that they would find peace.
That's my version.
I was at work on my second day at my new job in Colorado. My family was back in North Carolina and even though we weren't in danger, it was very stressful. It was a very sad day and I get all teared up sometimes when I think about it for more than a fleeting second.
I was teaching 9th graders at Rio Rancho High School. For some reason they wanted to play what was going on over the closed circuit TV all day. One of my students, whose father is in the military, had a panic attack.
You read my post, so you know I was at work. It was unbelievable. Don had the day off and had gone on a last long bike ride before the Great Floridian and had no clue this happened until he called to tell me he had reached his halfway destination. I too was glued to TV for days, weeks, and he wouldn't watch it either. Must be a guy thing. My daughter lived in Columbus at the time, but now is in NJ. I am visiting in a couple of weeks and will visit the memorial they have at Ground Zero. I have been there several times now and it is such a vast emptiness where the buildings once stood. It is hard to imagine the chaos that must have been happening then.
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