|
|
|
#1998 | Tuesday, September 10th, 2002
|
|
The early morning hours of darkness blanketed the Seattle skyline at 5:00 a.m. on September 11, 2001. I arose early, uncharacteristically turned on the television set, and started preparing for my workday. My husband was in the Midwest on a business trip, and I was home alone. I noticed an image on the television screen that seemed ridiculous and offensive to me. I thought, "What kind of a crazy movie is this?" I doubled over in pain, when I realized that it was not a created image, but a terrifyingly true, horrific, unimaginable event unfolding before my eyes. I crumpled to the floor of my bedroom when in live time, via television, I saw the second plane hit. Journalists were shouting across the airwaves. Sirens and images of rescue vehicles were roaring to the scene. I telephoned my mother and father sobbing, “Something terrible has just happened in our world.” Together, sharing the pain through the telephone, we watched the horror unfold. When the buildings began to fall, I thought, “My God, how many people are still inside?”
Tears streamed down my face, and tremendous sadness gripped me. I remembered attending a Christmas party at Windows of the World, in 1989. I remembered sharing a Snickers bar with my husband at the observation level of the Twin Towers. I remembered walking on the rooftop on a very windy day, with my sister, husband, and brother-in-law. I remembered a warm fall evening, staring at the New York skyline from the Jersey side, with the Twin Towers looming high above it all, and lit up like guiding beacons.
Seattle is 3,000 miles away from New York, but ever so close in the heart. I attended a special Mass taking place at St. James Cathedral, in Seattle, at noon on that fateful day. It was to honor the dead and comfort the fears and sorrows of the living. I called a cab in order to get there. The driver arrived at my house, and I noticed that he had been crying. This gentle man was from India. He was of the Sikh religion. He had the radio on and we listened to the news as we drove to the Cathedral. We both cried all the way. The traffic was terrible. The ride took more than one hour. Together I mourned with this man, both of us proud Americans devastated by the loss of so many lives. I will never forget him. We arrived at the Cathedral, and he reduced my fare. I told him, “God Bless You.” I worried about his well being after hearing dreadful reports of cab drivers wearing turbans being attacked by the ignorant in the days and weeks that followed.
To mark the anniversary of this terrible day, tomorrow I will attend the Mozart’s Requiem, at Safeco Field in Seattle, as part of the “rolling requiem.” At noon I will attend an interfaith prayer service, where the prayers of Catholics, Protestant, Muslims, and Jews will be joined in the common search for love, peace and understanding.
To the 3,000 souls who have left us, I promise that I will never forget. To their families, I pray that some degree of peace may fill your hearts, and that the love they left with you might carry you through.
|
Sherri | 41 | Washington
|
#1999 | Tuesday, September 10th, 2002
|
|
I was working at the time in a deli as the manager when i had customers come in and say that a plane had crashed into the WTC i could hardly believe what i was hearing! We turned on the television in the store and to my dismay it was true from that point on the day was a blur to me...you see there were many members of the fdny that had trained me a few years ago in the skill of building collapse and rescue....these same men were now in the situation they had trained me to respond to! Within 48 hours of the towers crumbling into a pile of puliverized concrete, steel, and brother firefighters i was there using the very skills they taught me to rescue them! GOD BLESS THEM ALL!!!!!!!
|
Dave | 28 | New York
|
#2000 | Tuesday, September 10th, 2002
|
|
Man, sept 11 2001, my pals n i were in a pub in dublin , then we stumbled home to watcha rerun of friends, laughing our butts off. then the news came in. it sent shockwaves so big no drink can subdue
|
kyle | 20 | Louisiana
|
#2001 | Tuesday, September 10th, 2002
|
|
It was unusual for me to have slept in that late that morning. My son 4, was sleeping in and my husband had already got up and left for work long before I got the call from my Neighbor, Saying "are you awake?" I said not really. She said wake up and turn on the T.v. I did, and I saw what was happening and began to cry of course, I was 7 and a 1/2 months pregnant and I thought for sure I was going into labor. My husband is a marine, and the first thing I did was pick up the phone and call him, but all lines were busy , it was a complete chaos. I couldn't get a hold of him till around 5 pm that night, and all my family members called me to make sure I was okay, Every neighbor I knew was at my house huddled around my T.v watching in disbeleif . All our kids were in the house. and no one would allow anyone to go outside it was very scary to all of us, even living on a military base we were unsure. I still think about it and tommorrow it will have been one year and my son will be a year old, My heart goes out to everyone that has a lost and missed on in thier lives.
|
Robyn | 25 | North Carolina
|
#2002 | Tuesday, September 10th, 2002
|
|
Where was I on September 11th... a place that involves the future of America. I was at my high school, Ironwood in Glendale, Arizona. I got to school and my friend came up to me and said did you hear what happened, and I had no idea. When I heard about it, I had no idea how big it actually was. So I went to first hour and watched the building , I was honestly naive at that moment. Then I went to 2nd hour, and the horror began to drift over me as I watched this horrible act unfold. I almost cried in second hour, but the severity still hadn't sunken in quite yet. My heart mind and soul were in a state of shock, misunderstanding, and complete and total just "what... how... when...why????????". You can't explainexactly how it felt when those chills ran through your body, shaking your soul with all the might of the world. As I walked into 3rd period, a wave flew over me of just complete and total, "Oh My Dear Lord Please Bless All Those In Need, Please Lord this CANNOT be happening". My teacher then announced that she had a brother in law who works there and called her, and then the phone went dead. So she was fighting more for her composure than anyone in the room. As I stared at the television, my heart sunk as a man's voice was heard on the news(he called into the t.v. station). He was so completely shaken, he said that he was watching people jumping out of the building, and that he thought about 6, 000 people were going to die. My whole body was gone and I lost all my composure, the tears began to pour down my face. All the kids in my class just stopped talking and looked at me... I was balling, and I went to the back of the room, where my teacher asked me if I was okay. I simply told her that what was happening was just aweful, and I was overwhelmed. I just cried and cried for hours, and hours. I watched the tv waiting for a body to be found, for someone, just someone to come out... just to say "Ha We BEAT YOU!!!" that is all I desired, all I wanted to see. Just one person to walk out, and one less person to die. I wanted to go there and dig, dig with my bare hands for somebody to come out. Even to this day I still wish that they would just find someone alive. All I want is one more life back, to stop the pain, but God Blessed all those that were in that building, My strength has been multiplied, I love the world, and allll that live in it. What A glorious place.
God Bless Those That read this and have felt the same as me.
Rain-Kane
Glendale, AZ
|
Raini | 17 | Arizona
|
<< |
< |
showing 1998-2002 of 2527
| >
| >>
|
|
|
|
|
