But I do remember turning on the TV that morning to check the news and tuning in just minutes before the 2nd plane hit the second World Trade Center Tower. The news commentators were obviously in shock themselves and still trying to figure out what had happened to the first tower as the second plane hit. At that point it seemed to become all too obvious that what was happening wasn't an accident. I remember watching footage of the 2nd plane over and over... it was hard to wrap my mind around it all.
As the realty of what was happening began to sink in, I distinctly remember calling my parents to see if they had heard... it seemed to me that if they had, they would have already called me. My dad answered the phone and I knew right away that they hadn't seen the news yet. I don't think I even told my dad what was going on, I just remember telling him to go turn on the TV and then asking him to call me back after while...
The feeling of it all was overwhelming... shock, sadness, disbelief, confusion... but I remember the fear and anxiety the most. It didn't take long for the news to start reporting that the 2 planes that had hit the towers were from flights that had originated at Logan Airport in Boston. How many times had I flown in and out of that airport?!? It was only a little over an hour away from my house... how could terrorists have gathered and boarded planes to kill thousands of people just miles from where I was living? And then another plane went down in Pennsylvania... and then the Pentagon. It was just horrifying. And I was scared.
I remember wanting Jack to come home and wanting to go get the girls from school. I talked to Jack about it... but not wanting to upset the girls and get too overwhelmed about it all, we decided to leave the girls at school... and he stayed at work. And I watched TV... all morning until I had to get Anna. I finally picked her up at preschool and then Mackenzie came home later on the bus. Jack came home a bit earlier than usual from work.
And it was quiet. Eerily quiet. The president had ordered, by then, that all flights were to be grounded - everywhere. There were no planes in the sky. That's what I remember. There were always planes flying overhead where I lived... now it was just quiet. And everyone was home with their families and afraid to go out.
But we decided to go out - to go over to our good friends' house, Mike and Roseanne Bently. I think we just needed to be with people we loved and felt safe with... try and process the whole thing and make sense out of it. And pray. We went to their house and had dinner and prayed for everthing that was happening... for the people who had died and their families, for those we still hoped would be rescued, (though in the end there were not nearly as many of them as we had hoped for), and for our own safety and protection because honestly, the uncertainty of what might happen next was just really scary.
So that was Tuesday night. I think, but I'm not sure, that school was cancelled the next day and I do remember that church was cancelled on Wednesday night. At that point most people were being encouraged to stay close to home because no one was quite sure what was going to happen next, especially since these attacks had happened so close to home.
It's amazing to me now to think that it has been ten years since all of that happened. I was watching the Today show on Friday morning and saw an interview with a few kids who had lost one of their parents in the attack. It showed interviews and pictures of them 10 years ago and then they had them on the show talking about how they are doing now and how they had been affected. And even though they all seemed to be healing and doing well in their lives, it was hard to watch and think about what they have been through.
But it was good for me to take some time to remember... that day, all the feelings, the need to be with the poeple you love and hold them close, to draw near to God and trust that in the midst of all the chaos, He really is still in control. It seemed like, then, that we would never forget... that time would just be frozen in that moment, in those events. That the sense of unity that we felt with friends, with family, as a nation would never be broken again. But time has a way of moving us on and away from the urgency of those emotions. And we get busy with the things of 'now' once again... which I guess has to and needs to happen.
But I just wanted to take a few minutes today to thank God for the blessings, the peace, and the protection on my life and those that I love and pray, once again, for those who have had to deal with so much loss because of what happened on Sept. 11, 2001.
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