story6435.xml

story6435.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-12

I woke up early on Septem,ber 11,2001. I was feeling very excited because I was involved in my first political race ever. I was running for one of eight seats on the Newton School Committee. I was running from my district but it was a citywide vote (pop.80,000). The preliminary election was necessary because 4 people were running from my district for 1 seat. I had worked hard since July 4th, getting the necessary signatures and trying to connect with voters during the summer. It was difficult to get people to vote in a local election with only one citywide race on the ballot. I had lined up family and friends to cover as many of the polling areas as possible (21) and sent my children to friends houses so I could leave the house before they left for school (an unusual occurence). At 7:00a.m. I was on my way to hold a sign at one of the elementary school where voter turnout was expected to be high. My very supportive husband had left two days earlier to go to Zurich in order to testify in international court for a client of his. I was feeling a little lonely but optimistic. At 8:40a.m. he called me on my cellphone to wish me luck. Because of the time difference he had just finished testifying and he said it had gone well (it was a first for him as well). I told him it was a beautiful day, the air was cool but the sun was strong and there wasn't a cloud in the sky.
Twenty minutes later, as the voters streamed by, several voters stopped to tell me that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. My first thought was that a small private plane with an inexperienced pilot or a traffic helicopter had hit and there probably wasn't a tremendous amount of damage. Within minutes, other voters told of a second plane. I left the school and traveled to my next stop, Newton North High School. I still didn't know the enormity of the destruction. David called again, and inquired, "What's going on there?" I told him the little I knew. I stayed for a few minutes holding my sign until one passerby in a car yelled, "Haven't you heard what's going on? Why are you standing there? Do you think anyone cares about that candidate?" Well, I didn't know how to react, but I did get in my car and drove home. As I watched the television coverage, my heart sank, and I felt like ducking. I felt as though something may fall out of the sky at any minute. I resisted the urge to pick up my 2 middle school children, and my 8 year old. They would be upset soon enough. Less than 6 months earlier my son had lost 3 friends in a school bus accident and the feelings were still raw.

While I was at home, one of my friends called to say his wife couldn't hold a sign because she was worried about her brother who worked in Tower 2. He amazingly survived after freefalling 30 stories in the elvator and somehow prying open the doros. Less than 5 minutes after he left by ambulance, the tower crumbled. When I heard the planes had originated from Boston and were on route to California, I worried about my neighbor. He had told me he was leaving before 7:00a.m. that morning for California and wouldn't be able to get to the voting polls. Later that day when I called his house, his wife told me he was originally scheduled to be on one of the planes that crashed, but he decided to take a later flight so he could walk his daughter to school and vote. On his drive to airport he heard on the radio about the crash and discovered Logan airport had been closed so he turned around and drove home.

The governor appeared on tv shortly after 10:00a.m. and announced that the elections that day would not be cancelled. The immediate threat to anyone in Massachusetts appeared to be small. After my children came home and I spent some time with them, I turned off the television coverage and took them with me to the farmer's market, a Tuesday afternoon event that take place in the nearby park. The market was crowded as many people had been sent home from work and they really didn't want to be alone. I sent a few voters to the polls and then I went home. Later that night I went to city hall to get the results. At 11:00pm they announced that I had come in second place and would be on the November ballot. I was as excited as I could be given the days' events. It was certainly nothing like I had anticipated. I went home exhausted and sad, and very concerned about my husband flying back to the U.S. He was scheduled to return that Friday, and in fact made it home by Saturday afternoon. On Friday he stayed at the airport in Zurich until someone let him on an American Airlines plane that was flying its crew back to Chicago. Saturday morning he flew to Hartford and rented a car for the last leg home. By then, my stomach was really in knots but our life started to return to normal. It's definitely a day I will never forget but the goodness that ensued was inspiring. That Saturday, my 8 year old daughter and her friends had a spontaneous yard sale for the victims and raised $1000.00 in 4 hours. People were overwhelmingly generous and it felt good to be able to contribute to Tikkun Olam (the repair of the world).
Susan Edelstein Rosenbaum
Newton, Massachusetts