story6991.xml

story6991.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-13

My name is Dorothy "DD" Drott, from Ponchatoula, LA., and this is my story.
As I sat in my kitchen, doing my normal daily chores, the phone rang. Instead of answering it, I let the machine get it, not wanting to have to stop doing the every day mundane chores that I always do. And I will never, ever forget the words I heard coming out of my friend, Lanette Daniel's, mouth.
"DD", she said,"Are you up? DD, wake up!" (I am in a band and known to sleep in in the mornings.)"They've hit the World Trade Center, the terrorists, they hit it with a jet! WAKE UP!!!"
I sat down fast, feeling my knees go weak under me, knowing this was not some sick joke or a prank. This was our country, being attacked. I reached over and picked up the phone to the sound of one of my oldest friends crying, telling me to turn on the TV.
And so I did, to one of the most horrific sights I will ever see. The first thing, the very first thing I saw on the TV was the second plane crashing into the second building. I will never be able to get over the shock of it, watching, LIVE, as this plane dives into that tower, knowing we are under siege, knowing there are thousands, THOUSANDS, of people scared, hurt and dieing, right before my eyes. People on those planes that are scared to death, just wanting to see and hold their loved ones again, knowing they never will, knowing they are dieing today.
The next thing I will never be able to forget are the people jumping, jumping to their death from the torn tower, to escape the furious flames that had them trapped. I still see this almost every day, in my minds eye, these poor, innocent people, loved ones of someone who's probably watching the same horrible scene I am, people having to choose between dieing one way or the other. I had to turn my head, breaking down at the horror of it all, belief sinking in that this was all too real.
How could this be, I thought, We Are America, The Home of the Free and the Brave, we are the one that takes in the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning for a better life, a better existence and here we are, being blown to bits just for being Americans. With our own planes, none the less. I could not help but be angry, very angry, at the terrorists, the airlines, the government, everyone. The anger was so strong in me because I could not believe NOONE KNEW, noone had an inkling of what was to happen. There had to be some warning, some tip-off, that let The Powerful know this was a very real threat, even before 9-11-2001.
And I was right.
There were warnings and noone took them serious, there were definite signs that things were going bad and yet noone took notice. AND THE AIRLINES, where is the security, how could they get on the planes with weapons, how could this be?
I wanted my family home, wanting to hold and kiss my child, Ginger, and wanting my husband, Darren, by my side, to see and feel them and not let them go. To hug them and tell them how truly special they are to me, just to be close to both of them, wanting to lay my eyes on them, feeling that, somehow, if we were together we would be safe, and if anything were to happen to us, at least we would be together. I still have that feeling every day that they leave, one to go to school and the other to work. I used not to worry if that would be the last time I tell them good-bye, but now I do. I worry about it every day.
I am still angry and saddened and probably will always be so, because this should have been a FAILED ATTEMPT by these so called people, these terrorists, these mis-led individuals. The Government had all the warning they needed and should have took it serious.
We ARE America, but we ARE NOT invincible, we have weak spots, and we should find and know our weak spots and strengthen them BEFORE something like this happens. I believe in this country and all it stands for, I am devotely American, to my bones, but I am scared, scared for all of us, for our children and their future.
In closing, let me say this. I hope my daughter never sees this happen again. She is only 9 but, at the candle light vigil we attended on 9-11-2002 in Springfield, Louisiana at Springfield High Football Field, I saw a sadness in her eyes I have never seen before and I know she is scared. And that angers me even more. My child is scared about her own future, a future that is laid out before her, a future so bright yet so uncertain. I've told her all her life, "You can be anything you want to be." She used to answer "I want to be a singer" or " I want to be a veterinarian". Do you know what she tells me now?
My baby tells me...........
"Momma, I just want to be safe".
And what do I say to that?
All I can say is let's pray....
Pray for peace and understanding and tolerance, for those that passed and those they left behind, for every American, for we all were under siege that day, we were all there and we will always remember the day the world stopped turning, the day we held our breath and our loved ones in disbelief, the day we all prayed as one, as Americans, united.
Forever United As One.
May God hear our prayers and may we all be safe and
loved.
God Bless All Those Who Perished On 9-11-2001.
May God Bless Us All.
We're gonna need it.
AMEN