Some days change the world. You can never forget what happened to the world, to your country, and to yourself and your family.
My son was in Manhattan on his way to work that morning. He said that when he went down the stairs to the subway it was a beautiful day with great blue skies. New York was bustling, and kind of impersonal as usual.
When he came up out of the subway, the whole world had changed. Taxis were pulled over with their doors open and radios turned up so that everyone could try to follow what was happening. Strangers were holding each other in their arms. People were walking hand in hand, trying to help each other.
We couldn't reach him by phone all morning.
I was working in a middle school in New Hampshire. My office happened to have a TV and staff members came in and out to see where we were being attacked next. The school administration had decided to keep the news from the kids until the end of the day.
Teachers watched the awful news on the TV screen with tears streaming down their faces. When their breaks were over and they needed to go back to be with the kids they wiped away the tears and put on a calm expression before walking out the door.
I remember so well where I was that day. I was watching Good Morning America on TV when Charlie told the cameraman not to go to break but to catch the window where a plane had just crashed into the World trade Center. Then we watches as another plane crashed into the second building.
ReplyDeleteI went to the beauty shop and told the operator to turn on her TV and see what was happening. We sat there and followed all the action that day.
The memories of that day are still so vivid in my mind that it still seems sometimes that it was only yesterday.
ReplyDeleteWhen I think about 9/11, I get a terrible dark dull ache in the pit of my stomach... it's a very physical reaction. I watched a program about it last night and seeing again the footage of the second plane was just too much for me.
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