Where were you that bright, beautiful morning of Sept. 11, 2001?Sure, here it is, a couple of days before the fifth anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks and wherever you are, there's probably a high school football game; the kids busy gearing up for Homecoming in a few weeks. Our gripes with our jobs, our figures, our bad hair days -- all those little petty details of our daily lives -- consume us.
Indeed, life has gone on. But it's never really been the same, has it?
Remember that overwhelming feeling of shock and disbelief as you watched the first plane, and then the second, crash into the Twin Towers that morning? Remember how horrific it felt to not know how many more planes might be heading for, well, where? When?
The Pentagon. Pennsylvania.
Shrouds of smoke. Frantic people running for their lives. Watching the Twin Tower footage over and over as our brains -- and our hearts -- tried to comprehend the incomprehensible.
2,998 lives lost.
Life in the United States as we knew it came to a grinding halt that morning. Remember? People glued to TVs everywhere. Disbelief. Grief. Fear.
But do you also remember the overwhelming feeling of flag-waving patriotism? Of pulling together, praying together, greeting our neighbors and loving our friends and families with a little extra oomph in those days, weeks and months following 9/11?
What are your memories of Sept. 11, 2001? What are your feelings five years later? I invite you to take a moment or two this weekend and share your 9/11 memories and feelings here at The Home Stretch. Either email me at anniejen@longlines.com or leave your memories, thoughts feelings about 9/11 and where we are five years later as comments following this post.
2,998 lives lost.
Sharing helps the healing continue.
1 comment:
It was my first year working at Moeller. I had a student walk in to my office and say "Mrs. Niehaus, another plane crashed into the second tower. Do you think this is and accident?" I decided he was asking his mom, and I was his mom in that moment, not an employee of Moeller High School. I wanted to hug him, I just looked at him and said "I don't think so honey" he then just asked "why?". "I don't know" was all I could say at that moment. He just put his head down and walked out of my office.
I came home and told all three of my children how very much I loved them.
Since that day, my boys have chosen careers that were maybe because of that day. They sure make a mom proud.
Brad is now 25 and a firefighter/paramedic. He loves what he does and knows he is making a difference.
Mark is now 20 and a United States Marine. He is stationed in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and he absolutely knows he is making a difference.
So, this family was changed by the events of that sad day. As it usually goes, we were changed for the better.
And as always, Love you Annie.
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