story6476.xml
Title
story6476.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-12
911DA Story: Story
melissa biller
emergency room nurse
i work the swing shift so i was sound asleep when the phone rang. i normally ignore it but for some reason i reached over on the 1st ring and answered it. it was my mother who lives just near me and the first thing she said was "turn on the tv right now". through sleepy eyes i searched for the remote and flicked on the tv. at that same moment my mother with a tearful voice said "a commercial plane hit the world trade center!". my first responce was "where is hank?!". hank is my brother who is a pilot for delta-asa. my mother said "he just landed in atlanta...i just got a call from him saying that he was all right". "thank god" i said and at that same moment with my eye on the tv i watched in horror as the second plane hit the other tower. my heart sunk to my stomach and for several minutes my mother and i sat speechless on the phone. finally i said "they may need me at work early so i'm gonna get in the shower". "okay" she responded and we hung up. there was nothing more to say! without words in those few minutes we had had one of those mother-daughter wordless conversations filled with many emotions. i went to work and when i arrived there was coas as usual, but there were also hugs and moments shared as only emergency staff can fully understand....though these were more profound than anything that we had ever gone through together. the day was busy and long since we live near the largest military base in the u.s. and with everyone on high alert thing were tense. the tv's ran all day on the same news channel, the patients were more subdued than usual, and everyone spoke volumes with just a look or a touch....for that one day changed everything and everyone forever! suddenly our own petty needs or grievences weren't so important, and all we could do was mourn and pray.
since that time things have kinda gone back to normal...people complaining, re-focusing on work and daily life, road rage, and movies lines, and all the stuff that we think is so very important at the time. but, i will remember as will my children for as long as we live the day the world stood still and quiet and were all one people in love and pray.
emergency room nurse
i work the swing shift so i was sound asleep when the phone rang. i normally ignore it but for some reason i reached over on the 1st ring and answered it. it was my mother who lives just near me and the first thing she said was "turn on the tv right now". through sleepy eyes i searched for the remote and flicked on the tv. at that same moment my mother with a tearful voice said "a commercial plane hit the world trade center!". my first responce was "where is hank?!". hank is my brother who is a pilot for delta-asa. my mother said "he just landed in atlanta...i just got a call from him saying that he was all right". "thank god" i said and at that same moment with my eye on the tv i watched in horror as the second plane hit the other tower. my heart sunk to my stomach and for several minutes my mother and i sat speechless on the phone. finally i said "they may need me at work early so i'm gonna get in the shower". "okay" she responded and we hung up. there was nothing more to say! without words in those few minutes we had had one of those mother-daughter wordless conversations filled with many emotions. i went to work and when i arrived there was coas as usual, but there were also hugs and moments shared as only emergency staff can fully understand....though these were more profound than anything that we had ever gone through together. the day was busy and long since we live near the largest military base in the u.s. and with everyone on high alert thing were tense. the tv's ran all day on the same news channel, the patients were more subdued than usual, and everyone spoke volumes with just a look or a touch....for that one day changed everything and everyone forever! suddenly our own petty needs or grievences weren't so important, and all we could do was mourn and pray.
since that time things have kinda gone back to normal...people complaining, re-focusing on work and daily life, road rage, and movies lines, and all the stuff that we think is so very important at the time. but, i will remember as will my children for as long as we live the day the world stood still and quiet and were all one people in love and pray.
Collection
Citation
“story6476.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 20, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/10984.