Friday, September 10, 2010

Never Forget. It's been 9 years already. Hard to believe it even happened. I saw something rather disturbing on youtube today... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxFzFIDbKpg. I tried to add a link you can click on, but it does not seem to be working.

now I did not research the Muslim teachings, but if this is true, it is rather disturbing. A religion that teaches 2-faced behavior? I'll stop there.

Boys went to school, Addie back to Mom's.

Found out Travis lettered in Academics today!! Top 5% of class is requirement. Way to go, Travis!! Wow! It's official...he is smarter than me now! :)

9/11/01: Took Travis to school...first grade. Pat was in daycare...at Sandras. On the way home from school that morning, I had the radio on and they were talking about a burning building. I assumed they meant in Dallas, but there was something about the seriousness "in the air" with the DJs that made me curious enough to turn on the TV when I got home to find out what was going on. Never done that before. They were just so somber sounding.

So, got home and turned on TV and saw WTC on fire. Did not know why at this point, had to watch for a few minutes to learn that a plane had flown into it. Now it was weird, because just last week I had watched a show about the Empire State Bldg and how a plane had hit it during a storm, and now there is a light bulb on the top of it, and the show talked about the man whose job it is to change the bulb. I thought, "how sad...the pilot must have had a heart attack or something to have not been able to clear THAT building. It definitely was not weather because it's a BEAUTIFUL day. Clear blue skies..." Anyway, I just assumed it was a Cessena or some small aircraft with an inexperienced pilot. Just when I am thinking all these thoughts...here comes a huge airliner...and it crashed into the 2nd tower.

I WAS STUNNED. What the hell was going on? What on EARTH are the odds that 2 planes would hit those 2 buildings on the same day. The thought of terrorists was not even a possibility in my mind...not in AMERICA. not HERE. not in OUR country. I thought the pilot must be drunk or stupid or....never entered my mind we were under attack until I heard the words on TV. I was just stunned.

I spent the rest of the day working and taking frequent breaks to watch the events unfold on TV. I remember thinking of the poor people that were killed instantly as the plane ripped through the building...never knew what hit them. I thought of the people trapped above where it hit...would they be able to be rescued from the roof? I thought about how difficult it is going to be to repair the building when this is all over. How do you repair something that high up? How many years was it going to take to repair it all? Would they just close the damaged areas permanently and have a shorter building? and then I saw a body fall. and another. and I realized they were jumping. And I was horrified. To have to chose between burning to death and jumping from the WTC...what a horiffic experience for those people. I could just hear them saying "I will chose how I am going to die" and jumping. horrifying....

and then I watched in sheer disbelief when the first tower came down. That had to have been even more shocking to me than the crash itself. and I remember thinking how lucky so many people were that it fell straight down, rather than over to the side on top of another building. How many more would have died if that had happened? I know its not lucky either way...but that was what I thought. and I thought of those inside the building...and I cried.

and then the Pentagon. and Pennsylvania. And they did not know if there were anymore...they mentioned possible targets. And Ty was working at NASA in Houston and I thought "if that is not a target - a Symbol of America - I don't know what is. And I was scared. I wanted him home. NOW.

and I thought of my kids. What had I done, bringing them into this world? Patrick was just a baby. and I thought "what if schools become targets?" and I feared for Travis. I remember calling Beth Janke to see if she was picking up her kids. I decided not to get Travis...because I thought it would scare him. I thought "Life will never be the same for any of us."

and I remember that the airspace over the US was closed and how eerie it seemed that you did not hear any planes flying...for days...Never before in history had that happened.

and I remember when I did hear a plane it scared me when it approached. Why was it flying so low? and breathing a sigh of relief when it went over.

and life has never been the same....

and the country came together. that was awesome.