story3496.xml

story3496.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

I was at work and had just signed online to check to see if my daughter was online - we routinely send instant messages back and forth about what is going on or what we may be doing later that evening. She sent me a message that said, "did you hear about the plane that hit the World Trade Center?" I told her I had not but that I would turn on the t.v. in my office and check it out - at that point we both thought it was a horrible accident. At the moment I turned on the t.v., the second plane had just hit and they were showing the impact over and over again. I let my daughter know that it wasn't an accident, that it was some sort of terrorist action, and she, in turn, was relaying information to her coworkers. We still did not realize the magnitude of what was occurring - a short while later the newspeople were reporting that the Pentagon had been hit - at that point a friend of mine who was also at work and could not get his radio to tune in, started sending me instant messages, asking that I keep him informed about what was going on. The next several hours were spent continually sending messages both to my daughter and friend, updating them as each horrible event occurred, worrying about our children - should we pick them up from school - would that frighten them more - what else was going to occur - just wanting at that point to have them in our arms. I remember feeling as though we were in the Twilight Zone - we were all in a state of shock - all flights being grounded, first one tower collapsing and then another and yet another plane having crashed in rural Pennsylvania. Footage of everything being replayed - shots of fighter jets in the air, ships just off the shores - it seemed as if suddenly, without warning, we were at war, but didn't know with who. And then the heartbreak of friends and relatives walking around the streets with pictures of their missing loved ones, the numbers of missing people from both the Police Department and Fire Department - such heartbreak. It became too much to bear to watch, even a year later - such a helpless feeling - wanting to help but not knowing what to do. The leaderships of both Mayor Guiliani and President Bush, the rallying of the country, increase in patriotism and stories of heroic acts by so many people were comforting at a time that left us wondering what lay ahead.