story4552.xml

story4552.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

Of course, it started out as a normal day. I was at work when my husband called & said that he had just gotten back from taking my daughter to pre-K & heard on the radio that there was a plane crash. Thinking that it was "just" a plane crash, I remember asking a couple of people around me if they knew anyone there & if they had heard the news. Then a teammate who had her headphones on & hadn't heard me tell the people around me about the news report my husband had heard, threw off her headphones & said that there had been a plane crash & that it might be linked to terrorists. My husband, still on the line with me, said that they were probably just looking for reasons for a plane to crash into a large building & that perhaps it was an amateur pilot who made a terrible miscalculation. We hung up & since he works nights, he was going to go to bed. We have televisions in our hallways that are always tuned to our internal news & announcements, but they are capable of picking up outside channels. So someone had turned all of the tv's to CNN. I had just gotten out to the hallway with one of my friends to see what they were saying since it seemed to be such big news all of a sudden. We were on our way to get coffee & looked up to the tv to see what they were saying. The newscaster was saying that a plane had crashed & that they were trying to piece together what had happened when out of nowhere comes the 2nd plane & crashes into the other tower! We could not believe our eyes. Tears were pouring & there was absolutely no question in any of our minds that we were witnessing acts of terrorism live on the news. It was unfathomable. Coffee was forgotten as I ran back to my desk to call my husband & he was already watching the news. I remember him saying that he was going to try to rest so that he could go back to work that night, but we both knew that he would be glued to the television to see what happened. I turned on my radio at my desk & the station that I picked up was of course talking of nothing else. As if the towers were not bad enough, we then heard that up to 9 planes had been hijacked & everyone was in an uproar. To add to that, we then heard that the Pentagon had been hit by one of those planes. The newscaster was livid. He was saying that they had hit not only the center of the financial world (the Towers) but they also hit the center of our National Security & I think he was as scared as he was mad. That is when the entire day just became surreal. Who would do this? I kept thinking. Who hates us so badly that they would do something this awful? I just remember people all around me calling their friends & family & their kids' schools & it all seemed like it wasn't real. When my friend that I was going to get coffee with earlier came by my desk to tell me that the first tower had collapsed, he was crying. I remember thinking that he was a guy & he was crying. Seems odd to think of that at that moment. I only remember bits & pieces after that. There are gaps when it just seemed confusion ruled the moments after the first plane hit & I don't think that anyone did any work. I can remember praying alot. I remember trying to stay calm when I was worried that there would more targets. Our building is only 6 floors, but people were concerned that we could be a target, although that was very unlikely. Everything goes through your mind when something like this happens. ((Of course, there was news concerning the American Express Tower in New York as well because we didn't know if it had been damaged or not since we were not there. I am happy to say that it is still standing & there are people working there now.)) In between all these things, I made calls to my mother-in-law to see if she knew what was going on. I called my husband when I heard about the Pentagon because I let the newscaster scare me so bad. I scared my husband because I usually do not get so upset unless we are alone & here I was at work getting all worked up. Then my mother called me from West Virginia because she had called our house & my husband told her how upset I was. I told her I was ok, but didn't she think I should go get my daughter from Pre-K. By then, some of my teammates had already left to get their kids & when the team leaders told us that we could leave if we felt that we needed to, I called my husband & told him that I was coming home. I refused to look at the televisions when I came out into the hallway to go home. If I had looked, I would have seen the replay of the towers falling & I didn't want to see that & have to drive home. I know alot of time passed between 9am when my husband first called & 11am when I left work, but it seems like only a few jumbled, awful minutes, almost like a dream. It still seemed unbelievable to me. On the radio going home, the religious station I was listening to was not playing alot of the news over & over. I agreed with them when they said that they thought inspirational music & prayer was needed much more than the sounds of this awful day playing over & over. The host of the morning show said that this was an unthinkable day & all she could think of was to play song she was going to start & she could barely get the words out as her voice cracked: "The Lord's Prayer." Needless to say, I was in tears the rest of the way to my daughter's school across the street from our home. I was not the only parent with the same idea. The teachers had not told the children anything except that there had been some bad accidents & that their parents would explain when they came to get them. I am grateful that there were no televisions on & that the teachers prayed with the children before they went home. I told my daughter that some bad people had done some horrible things & immediately, she thought that they were in our town. I explained that they were far away, but that we needed to pray for all of those people even though we didn't know them. She went to play & watch a movie on our television in our room while my husband & I watched the news for a little while -- not in front of our 4 yr old. We didn't want her to see all of this tragedy, but of course she knew something had happened & did see clips in the following days which really upset her. The rest of that day was spent with my family & being on the phone when we could actually get a line to speak to anyone. That day had to be the busiest in phone company history as everyone was checking on everyone else to make sure they were all accounted for. I later learned that an old high school friend had been on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon. His older brother had been killed the previous year leaving him an only child. When the plane crashed that day, his parents were left childless. It angers me to think that anyone should be able to do this to us & to our country. It saddens me that someone would do this to all of us. My 4 yr old should not have to see these images on tv. We made the most of the rest of our day spending it together as a family & thanking God that we were still alive. This year, my daughter, now in Kindergarten, wanted to know why they had to have a moment of silence for the heroes. I still don't think she really understands & I sometimes wish I were in her shoes. I understand & I am sad. We are lighting a candle tonight & having a moment of silence here in our home to remember the heroes, the lost ones, the victims & the survivors & we will be praying all the more. Thank you for letting me tell my story. I have not been to that field in Pennsylvania, nor have I been to the Pentagon or to New York, but my heart still mourns for all of the loss. Yet my heart soars when I see the patriotism & the unity that this tragedy has brought. May we draw closer to God, even if it is through this horrible ordeal. Thank you again for listening to my story. ---Tomi in Coral Springs, FL