Saturday, September 11, 2010

Where were you?

I just woke up that morning. I was only a few months pregnant with my second child and just barely outgrew my clothes. I was still trying to do some light exercising. I turned on the TVand sat in shock. My brother, a police officer, was visiting from CA along with another brother. I knew he would want to see. I went and woke him up. He was supossed to fly home that afternoon. We sat in front of the TV all day. I called my husband at work. He said he'd seen but didn't want to worry me so he didn't call. I couldn't wait for him to come home.

I've never been to New York. I grew up on the opposite side of the US. But I LOVE the city and have always dreamed of visiting the city, New York. I didn't know anyone there. The closest I ever came to the Twin Towers was watching a cooking/meal show on HGTV that often featured 'Windows on the World'. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Yet at the same time, it was soo real.

My heart ached. When I crawled into bed that night I couldn't sleep. I could only think of all those people still waiting to hear from loved ones. Mom's and Dad's trying to figure out how to tell their young children that their Mom or Dad was not coming home. I thought of those pregnant women who's children would never know their fathers. I thought of the rescue workers and their selfless acts. I could not hold back the tears as they rolled down my cheeks and as my husband wrapped his arms around me I cried harder still for all those who lost their loved ones and would never feel their embrace again.

I remember the days following and seeing the American flag flying EVERYWHERE. I miss that. My heart swells with pride when I think of the unity that our country showed in those days, weeks, and months following 9/11. Slowly people started to put their flags away.

Today, on the anniversary of 9/11, I hope you're not able to go anywhere without seeing the flag waving proudly in the sky.

10 comments:

Just JaiCi's Crafts said...

Beautiful Post

Shannon said...

Nice job Emily. I remember that day just like it was yesterday.

Beth said...

Great post.

Yvonne said...

Your post gave me the goosebumps Emily! I thought about 9/11 a lot today. I remember being at work at the policestation when my daughter called and said I had to turn on the TV. So I did and we gathered around it with some people than we saw the second plane hit the 2nd tower. Words can not describe my feelings. I love New York to and we stood at the top op the WTC a few years prior....unbeleavable...
Let's hope and pray something like that will never happen again!

Mama Spark said...

Wonderful post. I hope everyone else remembers today too. We must NEVER forget!

Regina said...

We will never forget. I was getting ready for work like any other day when I found out. The day just felt so unreal. So much sadness and fear. It is the silence that I think of the most. I worked in real estate near an airport. No planes were flying. Most of our contacts were located in the twin towers so the phones weren't ringing. No documents were being faxed. It was just complete silence the entire day.

Mary on Lake Pulaski said...

I'll never forget. I was in Maine with an airplane ticket for the next day to fly from Boston to Minneapolis. It was a long, solemn drive home counting my blessings.

Debi said...

I was at work listening to CNN on the radio on my computer when the first plane hit. It is one of those tragedies that we will never forget.

Amber said...

I found out when I got to work that morning. Shock was not a word I was comfortable with at the time but which filled my heart. Then came the fear and panic, that world war 3 just started and I wasn't ready to die. Dramatic? Yes, but recently I volunteered to put a slide shoe together for my daughter's school assembly and the flood of emotion hit yet again. God Bless America!!

Louise said...

I'll never forget. I lived in CA, in a different time zone. My stepson woke me up to watch about 6:00 a.m. west coast time, and I remember thinking how fortunate that the plane crash was so early that no one was at work yet. Then I remembered the time difference & my heart sank. As events on TV got worse and worse I felt so helpless...all I could do was watch and pray. Louise