Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Remembering



I remember exactly where I was when I found out about the first plane hitting the twin towers. I had just finished walking with "A". While we were driving to where we would be walking, the lady on the radio kept going on...and on...and ON about how she had to wait forever at her doctor's appointment. After walking, we stopped at the gas station so Ann could fill up her car. When she got back into the car and turned the radio on, the woman was no longer ranting and raving. There was no music. It was a very somber. They were talking about a plane crashing into the first twin tower. They thought it was just an accident.

We drove across the street to the Irish pub and they had the T.V. on. Everyone was watching the news. As we were watching, they showed another plane hit. At first, I thought it was just a replay of the first plane, but they started announcing that a different plane had hit the second tower. We knew then, that something was seriously wrong.

I headed toward the base. Mr. Mister was in Korea. The kids were at school. I was scared and crying as I drove. I made it onto the base and home before things turned into total panic and chaos.

I tried to call Mr. Mister but couldn't reach him. Sobbing, I left a message about the United States being attacked. I felt so alone! I sat in front of the T.V. for hours. As I watched both towers collapse, heard about the other planes being hijacked, and the Pentagon being hit, I felt completely helpless. The pictures that were being shown were unbelievable. The loss was overwhelming.

The news was reporting long lines at the gas stations. I had less than a 1/4 of a tank and decided to try to get more gas. The gas station on base had a line that was around the block so I didn't stop there. I then made the HUGE mistake of driving off base in my hunt for gas. There was a gas station right outside the gate, but they were closing and would not allow anymore customers up to the pumps. As I drove further down the road I saw the cars lined up to get onto the base. What in the world had I been thinking?

We were under high alert. They were stopping every car coming onto the base and searching under the hood, in the trunk, underneath the car, & pulling out seats so that the dogs could check for bombs. It took me hours to get back on base. And I had even less gas, because I never made it to a gas station.

The kids finally made it home from school after they set up a different entrance for the buses (which also had to be completely searched before they could come back on the base).

Everyone was afraid that there was going to be more attacks. The news preempted all other shows that were scheduled. It was 24 hour coverage of everything that had happened. There was replay after replay of the planes hitting the towers. We had already seen it many times, but still couldn't pull ourselves away from it.

Days went by, "normal" daily life resumed, but the thoughts and feelings that came with this tragedy don't subside as easily.

American lives will never be the same. We now walk around with a fear inside that we had never felt before, and we will never really feel untouchable or "safe" again.

All of us will remember this date as it was branded into our memory six years ago.

6 comments:

Just Me Again said...

Beautiful post....and yes, I still remember that day too. As if it was just yesterday. It's been on my mind all day.

Anonymous said...

I loved your post Kathy. This is a date that everyone will always remember.

Fauve Design said...

Beautiful,i will be thinking about the people who lost their loved ones...

Greenie Gardens said...

What a touching post. It sure brought back the memories - and all of the sadness. It 's a day for remembering. Stephanie

Cheryl Wray said...

It's hard to believe it's been six years.
I will never forget where I was at...exactly how I felt...and how we all bonded together. It's something we should never forget.

Kari (GrannySkywalker) said...

This was a wonderful post about 9/11. I remember that day so well. I, too, was scared, although I didn't believe we would be attacked where we were. But I felt so...I don't know...heart-broken and frightened and scared for the future. I went and got my kids and my oldest son called from the base and asked me to get his daughter, too. I brought all the kids to our house and sat with them all day, trying to figure out what was going on. My husband was in Australia with his Reserve unit, training. What a day. What a long, scary, horrible day. Not enough people remember the actual day, though, so reading your post was quite touching for me.