story11463.xml
Title
story11463.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2005-06-13
911DA Story: Story
I was far from the devestation but I was affected by the events. I teach ABLE (Adult Basic Literacy Education) and GED classes at a site in Ravenna, Ohio. On September 11, I stopped in at the site to gather paperwork for a national project seeking new ways to document the progress of our students. That afternoon I was to fly to Portland, Oregon, for a four day seminar.
Just as I was getting ready to leave the facility, another teacher, who was going to substitute for me, walked into the building and asked, "Did you hear about the Trade Tower?" I said no, wondering if there was a punch line. (Yes, really! This teacher always seemed a little vacant.)She told me that something had happened to one of them. I said, "Well, I have my radio on. I guess I'll catch one of the reports." Then I said good-bye to my co-worker and got into my car.
On the radio was a report of the disaster. Only one tower had been attacked at this time. I hurried home and found my husband (who had the day off) watching some "dumb" movie. I told him to turn the station, quickly! There was the first building to be attacked, smoking. As we watched, the second building was hit.
Now I must tell you, I'd been in both towers...the south one more than once. In many visits to New York I'd gone up to the observation deck often. I have even walked on the viewing site that was on the top of the south tower...outside! On New Year's Day, 1978, my sister and I had dinner at Windows on the World, inside the north building. And now, here they were...dying.
I can't remember the order of events after that, but I watched the south building come down and the north, but somewhere in that walking nightmare, the word came over the telelvison that there was one airplane still in the air. It had, apparently, ignored the orders to land. (Well, there went my flight to Portland. How petty could I have been!)
Surprisingly, I heard an airplane coming from the northwest toward our house. It was a jet and high enough that I could not see it, but it seemed to pass almost directly over our house. I can only think that this was Flight 93 on its way to Shanksville.
Several days at the ABLE center were spent in allaying the fears of some of the students, channeling the anger of some, and in general, learning from this experience. Last year (2004) my husband, our two grown children, and I visited Shanksville and stood in tears at the many expressions of thanks and love that were there. In May of this year, my husband and I went to New York and visited "Ground Zero". Again, we were overwhelmed, not by what we saw, but what we felt there.
Never forget! We were attacked. The closest event that I can compare this to is Pearl Harbor.
Just as I was getting ready to leave the facility, another teacher, who was going to substitute for me, walked into the building and asked, "Did you hear about the Trade Tower?" I said no, wondering if there was a punch line. (Yes, really! This teacher always seemed a little vacant.)She told me that something had happened to one of them. I said, "Well, I have my radio on. I guess I'll catch one of the reports." Then I said good-bye to my co-worker and got into my car.
On the radio was a report of the disaster. Only one tower had been attacked at this time. I hurried home and found my husband (who had the day off) watching some "dumb" movie. I told him to turn the station, quickly! There was the first building to be attacked, smoking. As we watched, the second building was hit.
Now I must tell you, I'd been in both towers...the south one more than once. In many visits to New York I'd gone up to the observation deck often. I have even walked on the viewing site that was on the top of the south tower...outside! On New Year's Day, 1978, my sister and I had dinner at Windows on the World, inside the north building. And now, here they were...dying.
I can't remember the order of events after that, but I watched the south building come down and the north, but somewhere in that walking nightmare, the word came over the telelvison that there was one airplane still in the air. It had, apparently, ignored the orders to land. (Well, there went my flight to Portland. How petty could I have been!)
Surprisingly, I heard an airplane coming from the northwest toward our house. It was a jet and high enough that I could not see it, but it seemed to pass almost directly over our house. I can only think that this was Flight 93 on its way to Shanksville.
Several days at the ABLE center were spent in allaying the fears of some of the students, channeling the anger of some, and in general, learning from this experience. Last year (2004) my husband, our two grown children, and I visited Shanksville and stood in tears at the many expressions of thanks and love that were there. In May of this year, my husband and I went to New York and visited "Ground Zero". Again, we were overwhelmed, not by what we saw, but what we felt there.
Never forget! We were attacked. The closest event that I can compare this to is Pearl Harbor.
Collection
Citation
“story11463.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 25, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/12464.