story1323.xml
Title
story1323.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-08-20
911DA Story: Story
September 8th 2001- Since my friend Stephanie's birthday was September 10th, we headed out to a local bar to catch a band and have some fun. We had a blast, Steph even got on stage to sing with The Interns! Sunday was my errand day, and my husband and I went out to buy Steph's birthday present. Monday dawned normal as any other day and I went off to work and then Steph and I went to Outback for our normal b-day celebration of Margaritas and Coconut shrimp. We talked about the guys who tried to pick us up on Saturday night, we complained about work, we even discussed the upcoming Sixers season - everything was normal.
On September 11th I woke up at 6 a.m. and quietly cursed my husband for his ability to sleep in (his happy hour had run late into the night and he had no pressing issues on this beautiful September day). I headed off to work, did my morning reports and decided to pop into a meeting my boss was having at one of the stores. I was driving the back roads into the city, smoking my cigarette and listening to Howard Stern talk about Pamela Anderson, when they took a phone call from a Stern Show regular who said a plane hit the WTC. I remember thinking "those god damn terrorist are hell bent on destroying those buildings". I flipped to the local a.m. station and listened as the second plane hit. I felt sick. I phoned home and asked my husband for details. He gave me what little he could. I walked into the store and turned on the radio in the back office. I interrupted my boss and told him what happened. He broke the news to the attendees.
I remember thinking "this is surreal, everything was normal an hour ago"! When I heard the news about the pentagon, I became visibly shaken, 2 of my brothers work for the government. One works on Pennsylvania Ave and the other across the road from the pentagon. I called home. My dad told me my one brother was fine, he stayed home, but no one had heard from my other brother. I called Steph at her store and she sounded so sad, which I am sure is how I sounded. She told me that they had the T.V. on in the break room and she just couldn't watch anymore. The rest of the afternoon was kind of a blur, I remember eating pizza and watching the news in the break room of that store, but I don't know what we talked about. My mom finally called to tell me that everyone in my family was safe. My boss decided we should call it an early day and we headed out.
My husband, Matt, had tried to go to work, but decided to bag it since he was so hung over. I found him in bed, watching the news. I climbed in next to him and thought how sad this all was. We watched the news continuously for the next 4 days. I live by the Willow Grove Air Station and the sound of the planes taking off and landing, a sound I am normally used to, would jar me out of a sound sleep. Matt's cousin got married on September 14th. Matt was the best man. I went to the wedding and came home early, unable to be happy at such a sad time.
Steph and I decided that since the president said for everyone to get back to normal, we would indeed go out dancing on Saturday night. We headed out and I thought to myself how much had changed in such a short time - how different I felt. How sad and angry I was! Along with the regular songs this band covered, the popped in a couple of patriotic songs like "God Bless America" and "God bless the USA". As Steph and I stood there singing with our arms slung around one another's shoulders, I thought "everything will be okay.... America will be okay".
Almost a year later, I am still not okay. I don't think about September 11th every day. I can sleep through the night and the sounds of the air base are once again background noise. In every conversation I have had this year it seems that September 11th has come up - with my nieces and nephews, my cousins or even a business colleague. As we near the anniversary and I see that terrible footage being played again and again - I think the same thing every time "Oh my god" and tears well up in my eyes. I watched a CNN special the other night on the attacks and cried through the whole thing. Even reading the other entries here has made me cry. So maybe we won't be okay, at least not yet, but we're surviving - and that's a lot!
On September 11th I woke up at 6 a.m. and quietly cursed my husband for his ability to sleep in (his happy hour had run late into the night and he had no pressing issues on this beautiful September day). I headed off to work, did my morning reports and decided to pop into a meeting my boss was having at one of the stores. I was driving the back roads into the city, smoking my cigarette and listening to Howard Stern talk about Pamela Anderson, when they took a phone call from a Stern Show regular who said a plane hit the WTC. I remember thinking "those god damn terrorist are hell bent on destroying those buildings". I flipped to the local a.m. station and listened as the second plane hit. I felt sick. I phoned home and asked my husband for details. He gave me what little he could. I walked into the store and turned on the radio in the back office. I interrupted my boss and told him what happened. He broke the news to the attendees.
I remember thinking "this is surreal, everything was normal an hour ago"! When I heard the news about the pentagon, I became visibly shaken, 2 of my brothers work for the government. One works on Pennsylvania Ave and the other across the road from the pentagon. I called home. My dad told me my one brother was fine, he stayed home, but no one had heard from my other brother. I called Steph at her store and she sounded so sad, which I am sure is how I sounded. She told me that they had the T.V. on in the break room and she just couldn't watch anymore. The rest of the afternoon was kind of a blur, I remember eating pizza and watching the news in the break room of that store, but I don't know what we talked about. My mom finally called to tell me that everyone in my family was safe. My boss decided we should call it an early day and we headed out.
My husband, Matt, had tried to go to work, but decided to bag it since he was so hung over. I found him in bed, watching the news. I climbed in next to him and thought how sad this all was. We watched the news continuously for the next 4 days. I live by the Willow Grove Air Station and the sound of the planes taking off and landing, a sound I am normally used to, would jar me out of a sound sleep. Matt's cousin got married on September 14th. Matt was the best man. I went to the wedding and came home early, unable to be happy at such a sad time.
Steph and I decided that since the president said for everyone to get back to normal, we would indeed go out dancing on Saturday night. We headed out and I thought to myself how much had changed in such a short time - how different I felt. How sad and angry I was! Along with the regular songs this band covered, the popped in a couple of patriotic songs like "God Bless America" and "God bless the USA". As Steph and I stood there singing with our arms slung around one another's shoulders, I thought "everything will be okay.... America will be okay".
Almost a year later, I am still not okay. I don't think about September 11th every day. I can sleep through the night and the sounds of the air base are once again background noise. In every conversation I have had this year it seems that September 11th has come up - with my nieces and nephews, my cousins or even a business colleague. As we near the anniversary and I see that terrible footage being played again and again - I think the same thing every time "Oh my god" and tears well up in my eyes. I watched a CNN special the other night on the attacks and cried through the whole thing. Even reading the other entries here has made me cry. So maybe we won't be okay, at least not yet, but we're surviving - and that's a lot!
Collection
Citation
“story1323.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 9, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/15678.