September 11, 2001

I hadn't intended to write anything about 9/11 - I remembered it just hadn't intended to write about it. I guess I figured there were enough news articles and memorials going on today that I didn't need to do so. I was just checking the blogs I usually read - on one persons blog she was whining as usual and I had made up my mind I was going to write about how whining selfish people bug the shit out of me, then I went to my last blog on my list. Posted were pictures from 9/11, pictures of the rescue workers and wreckage, of memorials and big strong men crying and praying. I forgot how painful it was to see those images. It seemed that the world stood still for a while after 9/11. Terrorism became a household word. Images of terrorist became a normal occurrence on the news. Fear and hurt was behind everyone's eyes.

This is my memories of September 11, 2001.

It was my first day of work. Hubby and I were driving the little people over to my aunt for her to watch them while I worked. 5 or so minutes before we got to her house we heard a report on the radio that a plane had crashed into the WTC. At first we thought it was a joke, then we realized it wasn't. I thought maybe it was a small single engine plane that someone had crashed, not a huge 747. When we got to my aunt's house we asked her if she was watching the news, she stated she wasn't and we told her to turn it on now, someone crashed a plane into the WTC. '"Oh my God..." was all we could mutter as the television lit up showing footage of the plane crashing into the WTC, then the footage of the second plane smashing into the other tower in a ball of fire. I was baffled, I could not fathom how this could happen. Two passenger jets crashed into the towers, that had to be some kind of horrible mistake. I didn't even think of terrorism. We had to leave so hubby could get to work on time. On the way to his work we listened in utter shock and disbelief to the radio report the events. When I got to work for my first day of training Tami was waiting for me, she went through my training and we talked about what happened. In each room we went the television was showing coverage of the attack. New Moms were focused on this instead of the little blessings they were holding in their arms. The nurses had turned on a television in one of the empty rooms and they were all huddled in there watching the footage. We joined the nurses to watch and watched as the first tower collapsed then the second. I was too shocked to cry. Still hoping it was some sick joke.

When I left work and got to my aunt's house to get the little people she suggested I call hubby because buildings were being closed down. They closed his building. He came home early. I learned of the other two planes, the one that hit the Pentagon and the one in Pennsylvania and felt a horrible sick feeling in my stomach. My aunt is a Col. in the army and she had just left her term at the Pentagon just a few weeks prior. A dear friend of mine lives in Pennsylvania and I didn't know how close the crash was to him. Later that evening I spoke to him, he told me how he had stood on his front porch and could see the thick black smoke from the crash, he was less than 5 miles from the crash. I was relieved he and his family were unharmed.

We sat on the sofa and watched the footage. I remember nursing my 6 week old infant as the politicians sang America the Beautiful. I cried, we all cried. We watched the footage late into the night not sure if another horrible terrorist attack was going to happen as we slept.

And the next day... The sun came up, we went to work and life went on, not the same but we were still alive and we were all thankful for that.

In the days since 9/11 much has happened. The world has changed a lot and yet it's stayed the same in a lot of ways. The coverage of the incident got to be over done, the attack somersaulting, people became jaded. I did. I haven't even turned the television on to a news program today, didn't even think of it. I didn't want to watch yet another insincere memorial service. Yet the pictures made me think and made me weep. No words, just pictures from the event 2 years ago. Just a reminder that terror can strike us too.

Yesterday my friend Anat who lives in Israel sent a note. The most recent suicide bombings happened very near her. One person killed at the cafe' was the daughter of a childhood friend of hers. A father and daughter were two people killed at the hospital. He was a Dr. there and she was to be married the next day. This was the only time for father and daughter to have some time together before she wed. Now all the guests who had come to see a wedding would be attending a double funeral instead. Very sad.

We are lucky terror attacks are fairly rare in this country. Anat lives in constant fear for her and her family. I don't know if this 'war on terrorism' is a winnable war.