What to write? Will it mean anything? Is there anything that a single person can contribute on a day like this? Days like this make most of us seem insignificant. We feel saddened by the endless stories running on every television station. We even feel guilty because we weren't personally struck with the same losses of so many. At the same time, each and everyone of us experienced loss. As Americans, our country was changed that day. We understand the feelings of the Americans that lived during the days of Pearl Harbor. To live during a time that our country was thrown a curve ball. To live during a time that will always be a pivotal moment in history. What can you write on a day like today?
I can only share my personal memories of that time. Even though it was ten years ago, and even with the memory of a rock, I remember it like it was yesterday. Our little family had only been in the area a short time. We were enjoying our new life together, enjoying our new home, enjoying our future. We had only been in this place in our lives since July of 2001. We were renovating our barn and painting our house, getting our kids settled into new schools. We had our original Stallion, Kool, and our original mare, Rio. They were expecting their first foal, something that the Man in Charge had been waiting for years to enjoy. He finally had a place were it was a possibility.
My day had started out normal. Just as any other day had started. I got the kids to school, fed the horses, the Man in Charge was at work, and I had just settled in with a cup of coffee. I turned on the television and was watching Bryant Gumble as the first plane hit the World Trade Center. They were trying to figure out what was happening, and so was I. I called my husband and told him what I was seeing on the news. At this time, they were speculating that it was a smaller aircraft. It didn't take long to figure out that was not the case. The next couple of hours, I went back and forth on the phone with my husband and my mother-in-law. She lives south of us by about 5 hours, and we were glued to our television sets. We saw the next plane hit the Twin Towers, and then the reports of the Pentagon and United Flight 93. I will never forget as we watched in horror as the Towers collapsed, both of us crying and not believing what we were seeing.
Immediately I left and went to the school and grabbed my kids. My Part-timer was crying, she knew everything that I new because our High School had let the kids go to the library and watch television. My Full-timer was in elementary school at the time, and couldn't grasp the entire picture. We came home and sat huddled together in front of the T.V. I know we sat there for hours that day. We continued the same activity as the Man in Charge came home from work. We prayed for all the people that were directly involved in this horrific event.
The moments that followed get a little fuzzy for me. I know we were glued to the television for days, we hung a flag from the front of our house, and my crazy little girls sang the National Anthem over and over again. They made red, white, and blue ribbons to give to their classmates at school to wear. They made flag pins out of safety pins and tiny little beads. They were busy doing the only things that they new to do.
Did I mention that they sang the National Anthem?
These two often sang over the last chore of their day...doing the dishes after dinner. This was a nightly show, that they had always performed. My Part-timer has some serious pipes, and my Full-timer harmonizes beautifully. They switched their nightly set from the popular country songs on the radio, to anything patriotic, including our Nation's Anthem. We were guaranteed at least three or four, nightly renditions of this song, for days, and days.
How do you tell them to stop singing the Anthem? Every night the Man in Charge and I would just look at each other and get ready for the show. It was very sweet, but I must emphasize that I heard that song more times in the weeks following the events of September 11, 2001 than I had ever heard it in my life.
I wish they were here together today, because I know what they would be singing.
Please share your memories in the comments section. If you are like me, you will be trying to see what you are typing through the tears in your eyes.
Photo from:
http://limitedplaymakers.com/uploads/9-11_firemen_raising_the_flag_at_ground_zero.jpg
God,
Please bless this Country. We ask for a hedge of protection around each and every one of our military members. Forgive our attackers, they do not know what they do. We pray for our leaders, let their will be Yours.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
I remember not knowing what to think. Nothing like this had ever happened in our generation. I learned of great tragedies like Pearl Harbor, but the closest I could come to understanding it was watching documentaries and hearing about how bad it was from older family members. It wasn't until 9/11 that my generation was really made to see and understand what it was like. I remember singing, I remember making the pins, and I still have mine. I wear them every year on 9/11. I remember that day as being very erie. Obviously the eyes of the world were on their TVs trying to figure out what was going on, but I remember that there were no planes flying that day. All around our house there are small planes flying all the time but not on that day. All of the planes had been grounded and it was erie how quiet it was.
ReplyDeleteI remember not having a clue what was going on. I was in elementary school at the time, and they didn't tell us anything, so it was a little startling for my mom to pull me out of school so suddenly with no apparent reason. It took me a few years to really understand what happened that day, and how it marked my generation. Sure I saw everything on TV, but I didn't have the brain power to process it. Looking back, the past 10 years make up more than half of my life. Sept. 11 was something my generation has almost always known, and the US has been at war for a longer span of our lives, than we have witnessed peacetime.
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