I have thought a lot about the significance of today's date and the song "Where were you (when the world stopped turning) by Alan Jackson has gone through my head many times. I am reposting my thoughts from my Sept. 11, 2007 blog entry.
My memories of 9/11/2001
I posted this back in May but I am thinking about it again today on the anniversary of that horrible day in 2001. May God continue to bless America.
I need to write about my feelings on 9/11.Short version is I was up with baby KateLyn and turned on the TV. Usually I wasn't up that time of morning 6:30 ish Pacific time and was horrified to see the towers burning. I remember I was watching NBC. I couldn't comprehend the magnitude of it. Surely there weren't many people there. Shortly after I turned it on the towers fell one by one. I remember looking at it in horrified fascination watching it unfold live on TV. I couldn't wrap my mind around it. I thought that maybe there weren't that many people in there since it was fairly early in the morning. Up until that time, I wasn't sure what the world trade center was. I thought they were some UN type of buildings or something. I remember panicking. I tried to call Mark and I started flipping channels and QVC was on and they were still selling things. That seemed so strange to me. In a few minutes, they had stopped selling things and had a banner that due to the days events they wouldn't be airing their programs.
Brynn had preschool that day so I took her to school and remember driving by the Puyallup Fairgrounds on my way and the fair was going but there weren't many people there and I can remember the feeling that it all seemed so odd to see fair rides going when the world was upside down. It was eery. I had a gift card from Target so that day I stocked up on food and water in case the world was ending. There were only a few people in Target which was odd since it's usually packed! I was scared to be in a store. It was such unfamiliar territory. I didn't know if the terrorists were "done". I had felt so safe before like the US was just too big to be hit significantly.
I remember standing on our deck that night and thinking how strange and quiet it was because they had shut down all air travel and we lived near McChord AFB and were used to seeing planes. It was a really scary time not knowing what was coming next. In the days following it was heartening to see several people standing by the side of the road waving large American flags.
I didn't cry about it until about 6 months later when I was watching something sad about days events and then it all came out. I felt such sorrow for the senseless loss of life the families of the victims endured. The story I still remember almost 5 years later was of a man from California whose wife was at the WTC on business for just a few days. I remember him pleading to let him know if anyone had any information about her. Like so many others, I don't think he found her. I hope we never forget about the people who lost there lives so senselessly that day and the heroes who saved so many lives on the planes and on the ground. If you haven't, I would encourage you to write down your thoughts on this historic, horrible day.
Brynn
