September 11
It's a day I'll never forget, just like every other American. I watched the second plane hit live on TV. My in-laws were on a bus trip to Atlantic City, NJ, so I was frantic trying to reach them. The hotel phone just rang and rang. We didn't even have an address where they were, so I was going crazy worrying.
My MIL finally called around 2 p.m., to say that FIL had been rushed to hospital with his heart. I told her to give me the address and I'd be there in 12 hours. She kept insisting she was fine, but she was crying. Of course, I wasn't going to listen to her, I had to be there. Randy had just started a new job that week and couldn't go or he'd be fired. I ran to my mother and asked her if she'd go. She grabbed her toothbrush, called her boss and we left. I had my camera and a change of clothes and that's it.
It was so eerie driving on the Interstate. Very little traffic. We finally had to stop around midnight to sleep. We were back on the road by 6 a.m. and got to NJ by noon. MIL just cried and cried when we pulled in. We had no idea what to expect. Would there be more attacks? Was FIL ok? What would happen? We were there a week before he was released and we could drive home. Got lost in Philadelphia. All the street signs had been removed to prevent terrorists from finding the Liberty Bell, etc.. What a nightmare. We were in the ghetto trying to find out how to get home.
It's a day I'll never forget on more than one level. I think that's when the in-laws realized just how far I would go for them. Family is everything to me. I don't work full time just so I'm always available when someone needs me.
One other eerie coincidence is the week before, my 9-year old daughter had said we would be on the beach that week. I just laughed because there was no way, it was mid-September and they were in school. As I stood on the beach, looking at the Atlantic Ocean on Sept. 12, it hit me what she had said. She was right.
Labels: Sept. 11
posted by Gretchen at
4:30 PM
17 Comments:
Non, il ne faut pas oublier...
In the midst of the Nation's drama you were coping with a personal drama: a time you will always remember as being full of emotion.
The World Trade Center was more than a symbol of American Enterprise. It was a center of world wide economic activity. There were many Canadians and other Nationals who died besides the many Americans.
I also remember 9/11. The problem is there was not a country that attacked the USA but individuals, members of a world organization. We cannot defend ourselves against those terrorists. For you it was a time which was extra traumatic due to the illness of your FIL. I hope your family and relatives are now okay?
I hope to see my lovely cats and dog in heaven! And books?? Well we'll see..
I think that was a day that affected many people...I don't think we will ever forget it. I hope we never experience another one like it.
Thanks for your visit...
At home, watching TV and saw the images in real time. I was rattled, to say the least. Sad to watch, and too many are taking the easy way out and forgetting.
Pearl Harbor is being forgotten likewise. All need to think 'Never Again', but still remember...
It's a day that is still vivid in all our minds. You are a wonderful DIL. I'm glad you made it safely to your family & home again despite the lack of street signs (I never would have imagined that), and that your FIL was ok.
What an ordeal for you and your family. And how wonderful that you put family first, and not even take up a full time job.
One cannot forget the shock or the horror. From across the world we watched numbly. Selfishly, I was relieved my son was in New Haven, and not in New York where he had been in the summer....... My heart went out to everyone. On a later visit we did visit Ground Zero.
Thank you for stopping by my blog.
I cannot believe 7 years have already passed......a sad day not only for the USA, but the entire world :(
Hair standing on arms.
The signs were taken down. Crap.
Thanks for coming by my place but it's hard to say thank you here. This is one strong post.
That was a really well written post. I could feel your panic and horror and then relief. Really nice job.
And 9-11. It'll live forever in my mind too. So sad. So very, very sad.
I was used to planes flying over every ten minutes or so since I lived by an airport, and it was eerily quiet.
I will never forget where I was, what I saw, and how I felt. Great post.
I will never forget this horrid day in history! I will never forget what I was doing, feeling..
It is an awful attack on our nation.
Sad day today. All in rememberance.
thanks for sharing what you were doing on that day - the whole world remembers it
Everyone has such difficult memories of that time. Thanks for sharing yours.
un sale jour qui restera a tout jamais gravé dans notre mémoire. ne jamais oublié.........
a sale a day that will remain forever engraved in our memory. never forgotten .........
As a Canadian, I also watched over and over on TV the planes hit and the world change.
Such a profound tragedy.
For everyone.
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