My 9-11 Story
Where were you when the towers came down? How about when the Pentagon was hit? When the plane came down in Shenksville, Penna.? Did you watch it live on TV or were you in NYC, Washington D.C. or Penna.?
I'll never forget my day for so many reasons. I had just put the kids on the school bus and my dad stopped in after walking the dogs. I didn't even have the TV on that morning for whatever reason.
We were just walking out the door when the phone rang. It was my cousin screaming about attacks. What? Whose attacking what? Turn on the TV. OK. Dad and I just sat there in silence, watching, stunned as the second tower was hit and then as they both fell. Who would do that? This is America! Nobody can touch us here. I think more than a few people had their eyes opened that day when true evil entered our collective psyche.
I drove Dad home and came back and started trying to reach my in-laws who were on a bus trip to Atlantic City, NJ. Couldn't reach them all day and I was more than a bit worried.
My MIL finally called us that afternoon to say that FIL had been rushed to the hospital with heart problems. She was in tears, all alone. Don't come, I'll be ok. Wrong answer! Hubby had just started a new job and couldn't go, so I ran to my parents' house and asked Mom if she wanted to take a road trip. She thought I was out of my mind until I told her why. She called her boss and said we had to go. We threw a few things in a bag and off we went. I had just been hired as a staff reporter, my dream job, but family is more important. If worse came to worse and I was fired over that, I can say, "Do you want fries with this?"
It was so quiet on the Interstate that night, very few cars or trucks. It was obvious that something was wrong. There were signs up all over warning that NYC was closed because an "incident." We had no idea what to expect as we got closer and closer to NJ. Would there be more attacks? Was it even safe to be that close to NYC? We stopped around midnight at a roadside hotel to get a few hours of sleep, then took off for Widwood, NJ (right outside of Atlantic City).
When we get there, we thought we'd be bringing FIL home the next morning. We were there three or four days. They wanted him to have heart surgery there, but MIL decided to bring him home to have it.
As I was standing on the beach on 9/12, just watching the ocean, it hit me. My 9-year old daughter had said we would be on the beach that day. A few days before, she had said that and I just laughed. There was no way we could be on the beach. School had just started and Hubby's new job certainly wouldn't let us take a fun trip for sand and surf, but she was right, there I stood. How did she know? She's done things like that before, but this time was unmistakeable.
I'll never forget my day for so many reasons. I had just put the kids on the school bus and my dad stopped in after walking the dogs. I didn't even have the TV on that morning for whatever reason.
We were just walking out the door when the phone rang. It was my cousin screaming about attacks. What? Whose attacking what? Turn on the TV. OK. Dad and I just sat there in silence, watching, stunned as the second tower was hit and then as they both fell. Who would do that? This is America! Nobody can touch us here. I think more than a few people had their eyes opened that day when true evil entered our collective psyche.I drove Dad home and came back and started trying to reach my in-laws who were on a bus trip to Atlantic City, NJ. Couldn't reach them all day and I was more than a bit worried.
My MIL finally called us that afternoon to say that FIL had been rushed to the hospital with heart problems. She was in tears, all alone. Don't come, I'll be ok. Wrong answer! Hubby had just started a new job and couldn't go, so I ran to my parents' house and asked Mom if she wanted to take a road trip. She thought I was out of my mind until I told her why. She called her boss and said we had to go. We threw a few things in a bag and off we went. I had just been hired as a staff reporter, my dream job, but family is more important. If worse came to worse and I was fired over that, I can say, "Do you want fries with this?"
It was so quiet on the Interstate that night, very few cars or trucks. It was obvious that something was wrong. There were signs up all over warning that NYC was closed because an "incident." We had no idea what to expect as we got closer and closer to NJ. Would there be more attacks? Was it even safe to be that close to NYC? We stopped around midnight at a roadside hotel to get a few hours of sleep, then took off for Widwood, NJ (right outside of Atlantic City).
When we get there, we thought we'd be bringing FIL home the next morning. We were there three or four days. They wanted him to have heart surgery there, but MIL decided to bring him home to have it.
As I was standing on the beach on 9/12, just watching the ocean, it hit me. My 9-year old daughter had said we would be on the beach that day. A few days before, she had said that and I just laughed. There was no way we could be on the beach. School had just started and Hubby's new job certainly wouldn't let us take a fun trip for sand and surf, but she was right, there I stood. How did she know? She's done things like that before, but this time was unmistakeable.
Labels: Sept. 11
posted by Gretchen at
1:57 PM
2 Comments:
Wow! I can't believe your daughter's prophecy. My brother used to do things like that too - dream things before they happened.
What an interesting recollection. You had a family drama within a National drama.
I stood in my kitchen alone and watched the events of that day. It was so surreal.
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