story6935.xml
Title
story6935.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-12
911DA Story: Story
Attack on America
by Thelly Reahm
from my life story book Tidbits of Time ? 2002
9-11 ? Feelings
?I Wanna Go Home!? That was the first thought I had when I saw the World Trade Center fall.
The thought keeps coming to me over and over, like a small child, ?I wanna go home.? ?I want my Mommy.?
But there?s reality. I am home and I am the Mommy. It's like I want that place of safety and innocence again...but it's forever gone. How I ache for the families who have lost their loved ones in this terrible atrocity against innocent people.
I remember all through WWII that we were so proud that we kept the enemies of the world from landing here...from desecrating our soil. Now that's no longer true. I was recently in Hamburg, Germany and our tour guide said that 80% of it had been bombed out during WWII. There were only a few ancient monuments left. The WTC weren't ancient, but they were monuments of our strength and ingenuity that are gone forever.
E-mails flooded my computer today saying ?Go out on your front porch and light a candle at 7:00 p.m. tonight to show the traitors of this world that we in America are united in our resolve to wipe out terrorism.?
It was just dusky dark as I made my way out the front door and placed my big three-wick candle on the porch rail. I lit those three wicks and thought of the Holy Trinity as I did it. It caused me to pray for the families of the victims of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. I prayed for wisdom for President Bush and his cabinet. I thought, ?He?s too young a man to have this burden thrown on him.? I sighed and was happy that it did not happen on Bill Clinton?s watch. He?d probably been off playing with some young chick. ?Thank you, Lord, for choosing W. to lead our country through this mess.?
Then I stepped out onto the circular driveway, crunching Torrey Pine needles as I walked, and looked up and down the street. There were no other candles flickering in the darkness. I was alone in performing this world-wide ritual of solidarity on Summit Avenue.
Ours is an old neighborhood. Mostly retired people live here. Even a few homes are just vacation homes, used only in the summer months. Had these people seen too many wars? Had they cried too long over this disaster? Had the adrenalin coursed enough in their veins? Or, perhaps they didn?t have computers? Were they not told of this momentous event?
As my thoughts raced on, suddenly out of the darkness across the street, there appeared five young people from the apartments in the back. They were laughing and chattering as they lit their candles waving them at passing cars. I waved to the young people but they never returned the wave or spoke to me.
Then, just as quickly they blew out their candles and skipped back to their apartments chattering and laughing as they went. They had done their warm and fuzzy thing for America. This was their contribution to the war effort. Had their lives been changed by the experience? Not likely. They had grown up in a land flowing with mild and honey, of peace and prosperity. They did not have a clue what war was all about or what was expected of them.
The old-timers of the neighborhood, who had not participated, knew only too well that lighting candles did not cut it. Many were Veterans of Foreign Wars. They had lived through WWI, a war that was to end all wars. They had survived the Great Depression and the dust bowl days of the Thirties and then WWII?another long war and many short wars after that. Some were declared wars. Some were not. They knew that rituals are just that?rituals.
You don?t fight wars with warm fuzzy feelings. Wars are for killing and breaking things. All of us old-timers on Summit Avenue knew that there is much sacrifice involved when a war is fought. After our men served in WWII, then our children had to go fight more wars. Vietnam, Desert Storm. Some gave their lives.
Tonight I was the only old-timer waving a flag and lighting a candle.
Although I didn?t allow the ?super information highway? of the Internet to pass me by, I felt foolishly out of step this dark, starry night when this generation was out waving candles and doing their thing.
I knew deep in my heart that this war would be won on our knees!
by Thelly Reahm
from my life story book Tidbits of Time ? 2002
9-11 ? Feelings
?I Wanna Go Home!? That was the first thought I had when I saw the World Trade Center fall.
The thought keeps coming to me over and over, like a small child, ?I wanna go home.? ?I want my Mommy.?
But there?s reality. I am home and I am the Mommy. It's like I want that place of safety and innocence again...but it's forever gone. How I ache for the families who have lost their loved ones in this terrible atrocity against innocent people.
I remember all through WWII that we were so proud that we kept the enemies of the world from landing here...from desecrating our soil. Now that's no longer true. I was recently in Hamburg, Germany and our tour guide said that 80% of it had been bombed out during WWII. There were only a few ancient monuments left. The WTC weren't ancient, but they were monuments of our strength and ingenuity that are gone forever.
E-mails flooded my computer today saying ?Go out on your front porch and light a candle at 7:00 p.m. tonight to show the traitors of this world that we in America are united in our resolve to wipe out terrorism.?
It was just dusky dark as I made my way out the front door and placed my big three-wick candle on the porch rail. I lit those three wicks and thought of the Holy Trinity as I did it. It caused me to pray for the families of the victims of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. I prayed for wisdom for President Bush and his cabinet. I thought, ?He?s too young a man to have this burden thrown on him.? I sighed and was happy that it did not happen on Bill Clinton?s watch. He?d probably been off playing with some young chick. ?Thank you, Lord, for choosing W. to lead our country through this mess.?
Then I stepped out onto the circular driveway, crunching Torrey Pine needles as I walked, and looked up and down the street. There were no other candles flickering in the darkness. I was alone in performing this world-wide ritual of solidarity on Summit Avenue.
Ours is an old neighborhood. Mostly retired people live here. Even a few homes are just vacation homes, used only in the summer months. Had these people seen too many wars? Had they cried too long over this disaster? Had the adrenalin coursed enough in their veins? Or, perhaps they didn?t have computers? Were they not told of this momentous event?
As my thoughts raced on, suddenly out of the darkness across the street, there appeared five young people from the apartments in the back. They were laughing and chattering as they lit their candles waving them at passing cars. I waved to the young people but they never returned the wave or spoke to me.
Then, just as quickly they blew out their candles and skipped back to their apartments chattering and laughing as they went. They had done their warm and fuzzy thing for America. This was their contribution to the war effort. Had their lives been changed by the experience? Not likely. They had grown up in a land flowing with mild and honey, of peace and prosperity. They did not have a clue what war was all about or what was expected of them.
The old-timers of the neighborhood, who had not participated, knew only too well that lighting candles did not cut it. Many were Veterans of Foreign Wars. They had lived through WWI, a war that was to end all wars. They had survived the Great Depression and the dust bowl days of the Thirties and then WWII?another long war and many short wars after that. Some were declared wars. Some were not. They knew that rituals are just that?rituals.
You don?t fight wars with warm fuzzy feelings. Wars are for killing and breaking things. All of us old-timers on Summit Avenue knew that there is much sacrifice involved when a war is fought. After our men served in WWII, then our children had to go fight more wars. Vietnam, Desert Storm. Some gave their lives.
Tonight I was the only old-timer waving a flag and lighting a candle.
Although I didn?t allow the ?super information highway? of the Internet to pass me by, I felt foolishly out of step this dark, starry night when this generation was out waving candles and doing their thing.
I knew deep in my heart that this war would be won on our knees!
Collection
Citation
“story6935.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 31, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/14465.