It makes me ill even to think about that day...that week...
It was a morning I will never forget. The Rev and I had been married for just under 2 years. I had been working for a consulting firm and one of the VP's had done a few illegal and shady deals. I was getting dressed to go to court (I was scheduled to testify), with the TV on in the background, when I walked in the living room and saw the first tower on fire. They were saying a plane had flown into the tower and you could definitely see the hole where it had gone in.
Hmmmm...wonder how a little cessna wasn't able to miss that great big building.
I went and woke up The Rev so he could see what was happening. Don't know quite why I did, it just seemed like something he should see.
He sat in front of the TV while I went in the kitchen to fix my breakfast.
"OH SH-T!" he yelled from the living room.
"What?!? What?!?"
"Another plane just flew into the tower. Oh My God. We are under attack."
I don't know how he knew so definitively what was happening. All I knew was how panicked I felt.
Just then, the attorney called and she was downstairs to pick me up.
Off to court...
The rest of the morning in court was a blur.
The judge's clerk stayed in the back and kept coming out to update the judge.
The Pentagon has been hit.
Another plane went down somewhere.
A tower fell.
The other tower fell.
Court adjourned...downtown Houston is being evacuated.
That afternoon I went to the medical center and gave blood. It is the only time in my life I've donated. I am right on the border of weighing enough...one day yes, the next no. That day I made it by a half pound.
I cried for the next week knowing that there really were no survivors who needed that blood. You either made it, or you didn't. And almost 3,000 didn't.
I will always remember...
4 comments:
I was getting my car repaired and the news was on. Saw the first tower burning then watched the second plane hit. No one in the waiting room said a word. We just all stared.
The rest of the day is a blur except for the long line at the gas station.
I remember... it was my first day teaching music in the preschool. Everything started during carpool so we were getting tidbit reports from parents as the dropped their kids off... never truly knowing what had happened. Tried to call home... where hubby was working, but could not get through since he was online and I had our new cell.
Each time I came out of another music class, another place had hit, or another tower had fallen.
Finally all "specials" were canceled and classes we told to stay in their rooms. Fathers began to stop by on their way home from work to pick up children and those of us not in classrooms were posted in the halls with rosters in order to help them find their wonderful children.
I was finally able to gather my own children and head home. Having no idea how to get messages off the new cell phone, I still had not spoken to my hubby at home (who works for the airlines reservation systems) and just wanted to get home and see him and know what was happening.
The next few days were spent online with family and friends from around the world trying to take it all in and process what had happened.
My 3 year old was learning the letter "A" that week. I will never forget that her collage had an airplane pointed straight into the ground. That still resonates with me as much as anything!!
I had gotten off from working the third shift that morning and was following my usual routine of eating breakfast, reading the newspaper, and going to bed. I was not in the habit of turning on the TV and wouldn't have that day if my routine had not been interrupted.
It just happened that a friend called me that morning and while we were talking someone came into his office and said someone had flown a plane into the World Trade Center. I thought, OK, small plane, aviation accident. But then my friend added "...on purpose." That's when I turned the TV on. I didn't know both towers had already been hit and that what I saw on the TV behind Aaron Brown was a replay. I saw one tower on fire and then a jetliner came in behind the other tower and hit it. My jaw dropped.
I stayed glued to the TV for several hours and saw both towers fall. Eventually I got some sleep so I could go to work that night.
It still strikes me how close I came to following a normal routine that would not have allowed me to know anything until I got to work that night. These days I stay too closely glued to the internet for much to get by me.
I pray there are no other instances, in any of our lives (or our family's lives) which we remember by just thinking of the day.
Prayers to those who lost a friend or loved one that day...that week...
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