8 years ago today, on 9/11, what were you doing?
My alarm didn't go off that morning. I didn't get up, drink coffee and watch the news that morning as usual. Instead, I woke up late, rushed through a shower and ran out the door. I heard about the towers as soon as I turned on the car. Half way to work, news about the Pentagon came across the radio, and I don't remember the rest of the drive. My uncle worked at the Pentagon.
There was no work to be done at my job that day. No one was calling to order catalog items that day. I left early, came home, called my grandmother, called my husband, called my parents... just needing to connect with someone.
It was several hours before anyone heard from my uncle, but he was fine. My cousin had been maybe a block away and heard the plane go down. Her account of that morning is chilling, as is anyone's who witnessed it, I'm sure.
I watched the news until the towers fell, and couldn't watch anymore. The Golden Girls played all day on another channel, and they stayed on my screen as I cleaned my whole house from top to bottom. There was a continuous stream across the bottom of that channel telling us to turn to our news network to learn about the devastating attack, but I didn't do that. I vacuumed the carpets over and over and over, losing myself in the monotony and normalness of that single daily chore. The loudness was somehow comforting, drowning out a few of my thoughts, burying some of the fears about what would happen next. I didn't care how clean my house was, really, it was just the only thing I could control that day.
I remember not wanting to know anymore. I remember wanting to go back in time just a few hours, to not feel anxious, to not worry about what inexplicable catastrophe might hit us next. I remember wanting to hide under my bed, but I didn't.
How did you cope?
Daily Study of The Book of Mormon
6 years ago
9 comments:
Everyone will always remember where they were and what they were doing that day 8 years ago.
It was during my engagement so I was usually off in la la land thinking about my soon to be husband so the news brought me back down to earth real fast. I couldn't keep my eyes off the television with my jaw on the floor.
God Bless all those personally affected by this tragedy.
We prayed!!!! Just as we are praying today for all those lives lost and everyone's family.
I prayed a lot. It was my second week away at college my freshman year -- talk about anxiety. I wanted to run home, but instead I found myself really getting to know the girls on my dorm-room floor. It really bonded some of us together like family.
If something like this happened today, I know I would clean, too. That's also my method of control. :)
This might be TMI and sound sort of crass given the circumstances, but I and my then-boyfriend got busy all afternoon in front of the news on the televeision set. My job told everyone to go home early (I was living in Chicago at the time, and the Sears Tower was something everyone was scared would be a target, and my brother was working in another building that at the time was the 4th tallest in the world). So, I was at my boyfriend's apartment, watching the coverage all the rest of the morning/afternoon/evening, and we clung together, in what I've come to consider some kind of desperate life-affirming way. It sounds weird, but it was cathartic and actually beautiful if you think about it.
I was sitting in the rocker in the wee hours of the morning nursing Luke when I got a phone call to turn on my TV. I couldn't believe what I saw, I was stunned, speechless, astounded. I watched, on TV the second plane hit the second tower and watched it go up in flames. I proceeded to watch as they both fell from the flames, heat, jet fuel.
Bless those who lost their lives, those who lost loved ones, and those who fight for our freedoms each and every day. I couldn't be more grateful to the men and women in our country who protect us from such atrocious acts.
What a surreal day...
My roommate (now husband) woke me up because he couldn't sleep and had been watching TV. We are on the west coast so it was early. I remember being shocked and even numb watching it on TV...like it was just some horrible movie.
I called my boss and she told me it was business as usual (what?!?!?!) and to be in at 9. We live in the second largest city in the US so we thought we could be a target at the start of our work day.
That afternoon I found out that my friend's husband was on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon. It finally became very real to me. I coped with lots of tears...
Oh WOW, this is a great post & you have the most gorgeous site here. I had to stop by to leave this comment for you – and to say hello of course ! Your posts are creative and original and you have interesting pictures. It's all perfect ! Thank you for sharing your site and best wishes....
I was in a high school classroom with 28 cherubs. 26 of whom had parents working at the Pentagon that day. I was pretty melancholy yesterday...that feeling carried over to today. I will never forget. God Bless America.
I still remember the shock and fear of that day.
Post a Comment