Remember that morning we were all jolted wide awake and abruptly reminded of the world’s reality? It began as a typical September morning. We dropped the kids at school, stopped for coffee at Starbucks, and drove to work…. We were thankful for a break in the hot summer temperatures and glad to have Monday behind us. Perhaps brewing ominous storm clouds would have better set the tone for the tragedy to unfold, yet the skies were clear and Crayola cerulean blue, a perfect over-the-rainbow kind of morning.
In that moment, life was fleeting. And fragile.
No birds sang, no airplanes flew.
A fog drifted over the country.
A War-of-the-Worlds sick feeling settled down deep where we live.
We held our babies and dreams closer. We proudly flew the red-white-and-blue, and came together in prayer and meditation no matter which side of the aisle we claimed.
Never forget the morning we were awakened. Always remember those blue skies.
Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.
“War must be, while we defend our lives against a destroyer who would devour all; but I do not love the bright sword for its sharpness, nor the arrow for its swiftness, nor the warrior for his glory. I love only that which they defend.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers
I will always associate Panama City Beach with that day. We were there on vacation, and I was cooking a late breakfast when Don came across the first building. As we began eating (by then we’d made plates and were sititng in front of the TV), the second plane hit. That is where breakfast ended. Eggs sat and grew cold on the plate. Eventually we went to the pool with our two year old, but there was an eerie silence broken by an occasional Air Force plane from the nearby base.
I just wanted to run and get in my safe place and hide. Instead, we were there the rest of the week, trying to act normal so as to not alarm the kid and yet sleeping none and wondering what would become of all of us.
Yes I do remember that day and where I was when I heard the terrible and shocking news. Your “War-of-the-Worlds-Night-of-the-Living-Dead” is a spot on description of how I felt, also. I was at work, listening to my radio, when the devastating news was aired. I’ll never forget this day, and I’m sure no American will, either. Thank you for posting this on the eve of the date that terrorists cowardly attacked us and killed thousands of innocent Americans. Today and tomorrow should be a time of reflection and remembrance.
I keep a daily diary of sorts. I just jot down stuff I want to remember. Sometimes I turn them into blog posts. Sometimes it’s just a number or a name or something. Other times…
This is the only thing I wrote on 9/11/2001:
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[11:48]
Geoff called and woke me up around 9:45….terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. A dark, dark day.
Ryan German called a few minutes ago and said he would check for me to see if CNN was going to have me come in this week.
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I was unemployed, and had been for about 5 months at this point, and looking for a job. Ryan German was one of many recruiters with whom I was working. A man from CNN was supposed to interview me…but he was in NYC when the attack happened. We eventually had our interview about two weeks later. I did not get the job. But it does show that even on that day, life had to go on.
Beautifully stated reminder of a pivotal moment in all of our lives, T … as if we could ever really forget :/ This day 11 years ago was “life as we knew it” … tomorrow the new “normal”
“Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning?” Alan Jackson
A very fitting blog! Thanks, Talya
We were on our way to our new retirement home in Puerto Vallarto, Mexico – suddenly that didn’t seem like such a good idea. I’ve always wondered how our life would have turned out.
Excellent reminder that not all memories are happy, but they are still important ones. Also, why every time I pray, I ask God’s blessings on those who serve this country at home and abroad!
We will NEVER forget! May their souls rest in peace & their loved ones be comforted. America will never fall because Americans never give up!
Just before reading this, I put on my t-shirt (made by a brother in CA) that said “9-11: A Day to Remember” on the back and the Statue of Liberty on the front. He had mailed each of his siblings and their children one. I’ve tried to wear mine each Sept. 11. I also put the porch flag (a US flag-like one) up to fly. Though I know it should be at half-staff, I didn’t yet change it. Thanks for the memory.
I remember all too well! I remember on my way to wotk as I drove down 14th Street passing thr Washington Monument that the sky post card perfectly blue with a fee wispy clouds. We were having a particularly busy Tues morning when my daughter called to say a plane had hit the WTC. I hurried her off the phone saying surely a sad accident. She called back when the 2nd hit and a few mins later someone yelled the Pentagon was on fire. Within mins all hell broke out on our block…the only thing between my office and the White House was Lafayette Park. The WH staff had been evacuated to our street. We made our way out of our building and it took me almost an hour to get my car out of the garage withe reports the State Depart had been bombed and more noise arounds us than I’d ever heard in DC. I sat on 14th Street for over 2 hours in the gridlock and chaos that had paralyzed our Capitol. Soldiers came running between the cars trying to make their way from Walter Reed to the Pentagon having left their vehicles due to the traffic. As O sat still in traffic the report was the 4th plane was heading to the Capitol or the White House. A myriad of feelings rushed over me not knowing what might happen as I sat directly in its reported path. I couldn’t get a call out on my cell to any of my family…i cried a lot of tears and prayed non-stop. As we know the 4th plane was taken down in Pa and after almost 5 hours I reached the DC/Maryland line…only 8 miles from my office. I stopped by my daughter’s kissing her and my granbabies and then home to await my husband to get home from my office in Baltimore. A most horrofying day followed by days and weeks of anxiousness that,till this day can quickly come to he surface prompted by the oddest things. We’ll never forget those that perished that sad day!
Thank you for sharing your memory Deborah. I can’t imagine how it must have felt to be right there as it unfolded.
You described the day so perfectly. I’ll never forget. I see the skyline every day, and that moment when everything changed still appears as clear as the day it happened.
It was a sick feeling I’ll never forget, and the feeling lasted for weeks.
I was watching TV with my one year old twins, scared about what kind of world they would grow up in. Scary, sad day
I was at work and later remember noticing that no planes were flying over and thinking how creepy!