story8037.xml
Title
story8037.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-21
911DA Story: Story
My husband and I arrived in Washinton DC on Monday morning(our first vacation in years). We took the Amtrac and got into Boston Monday evening. Went to Logan airport to rent a car and drove the few miles to our motel. We talked about all the things we hoped to see in Boston on Tuesday before we once again boarded Amtrac on Wednesday to head back home.
The next morning the world had changed, forever. My husband said something is going on in New York - they are talking about it on his police scanner. We turned on the tv and sat in horror as the pictures and the devastation began. It was not possible to fatham the depth of the pain and suffering that was going on there. It felt like it was our neighbors who were parishing. And the date was 9-11. After the plane hit the White House I told my husband we needed to do something normal, like get dressed and find a restaurant. Everywhere we went the faces told the same story we felt. Just so much shock and disbelief. Our waitress could not understand why the restaurant was open. She felt everyone should be home trying to deal with this loss. We live 30-40 miles from Wright Patterson Airforce Base, located in Dayton, Ohio. I told my husband we had to get home because who knew what would happen next. Our best course would be to get inland and head North I needed to be with my babies - my 2 girls, ages 37 and 23 and the 5 grandchildren. If our personal world was going to end too, I had to be with my family. We tryed to call home but the lines were all out. I finally reached my sister at work and told her we were going to drive home and to call the kids and tell them we're okay and on our way.
On the drive home it was very strange. There were no contrails in the sky, no planes, trains or public transportation. Everywhere we went, our gas attendants, waitresses and almost everyone we talked to, had some connection to the towers. They had a relative or knew someone who escaped or was missing.
The closer we got to home the more frantic I felt. I was afraid something was going to happen before we could get there. I just needed to be with my babies. We finally walked in our house and my oldest daughter was here. I grabbed her and hugged her and cryed and cryed. I talked to or held all of them that evening. My family has always been important to me, but even more so after 9-11-01.
The next morning the world had changed, forever. My husband said something is going on in New York - they are talking about it on his police scanner. We turned on the tv and sat in horror as the pictures and the devastation began. It was not possible to fatham the depth of the pain and suffering that was going on there. It felt like it was our neighbors who were parishing. And the date was 9-11. After the plane hit the White House I told my husband we needed to do something normal, like get dressed and find a restaurant. Everywhere we went the faces told the same story we felt. Just so much shock and disbelief. Our waitress could not understand why the restaurant was open. She felt everyone should be home trying to deal with this loss. We live 30-40 miles from Wright Patterson Airforce Base, located in Dayton, Ohio. I told my husband we had to get home because who knew what would happen next. Our best course would be to get inland and head North I needed to be with my babies - my 2 girls, ages 37 and 23 and the 5 grandchildren. If our personal world was going to end too, I had to be with my family. We tryed to call home but the lines were all out. I finally reached my sister at work and told her we were going to drive home and to call the kids and tell them we're okay and on our way.
On the drive home it was very strange. There were no contrails in the sky, no planes, trains or public transportation. Everywhere we went, our gas attendants, waitresses and almost everyone we talked to, had some connection to the towers. They had a relative or knew someone who escaped or was missing.
The closer we got to home the more frantic I felt. I was afraid something was going to happen before we could get there. I just needed to be with my babies. We finally walked in our house and my oldest daughter was here. I grabbed her and hugged her and cryed and cryed. I talked to or held all of them that evening. My family has always been important to me, but even more so after 9-11-01.
Collection
Citation
“story8037.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 25, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/13318.