story9019.xml

story9019.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2003-02-01

I was at my home in Casper Wyoming getting things together to get my husband off to work. The time there was 6:30 A.M. He left to go to work when I turned on the TV. I wasn't paying to much attention to the telivision when i over heard a special report with peter jennings. I turned to the screan and they were taking about the First World Trade Center and it being struck by the plane. I watch in disbelief. I hollered at my mother in the other room and had asked her if she had the tv on. she didnt so i ran to the living room and turned it on. as we sat there and watched not believing what was going on. At that moment the second plain had just hit the second WTC building. I broke down in tears asking my mom if it was a movie. She had said that she didnt think that it was. that it was for real. It hit my heart hard. knowing that there were many people in the building and that they had no chance of making it out. It wasn't like watching the news about an earthquake in california or watching a plane crash or a accident on the tv or radio it was real. it was different. But i knew this, it hurt bad deep in me. my mother left for work in a different town 100 miles from home. as i sat at the house alone, i took the small tv from my room and placed it next to the computer. i watched it while i was online. many people were mad and wanted to kill bin ladin (although in my mind i couldn't say that i wasn't trying to plot something to get back at him myself). I sat there watching things escalate more when they were talking about 2 more unaccounted for plane's. Not knowing what was going to happen i started to wonder what was on these peoples minds. while on the internet chatting with friends from my area a woman from the wyoming area that was living in NYC came in the room looking for someone to talk to. she was upset and distrat that her husband wasnt answering her calls. and that she was trying to find where he was. i thought at first she was just using the oppertunity to get alittle attention. so i privet chatted with her and talked more to her about it. as we went on she asked me if she could call me that she would pay for the call. i agreed seams as how she was pretty upset. i got off the internet and she called me 5 minutes later. having caller id on my phone the number came through as a NY call. i looked it up in my little Area code book that i made and found that in fact she was calling for NYC. My heart sunk knowing that at first i didnt believe her and here she was in person on the phone talking to me crying and upset that her husband wasnt getting back to her. I calmed her down and we started to talk about what she could do to find him and make sure that he was ok. I told her after she did these things that i wanted her to call me back. I wanted to make sure that she found him. i hung up with her after getting her to collect herself. After i hung up i got back online for a few minutes and started chatting back in the origonal chat room i was in and people in there were being mean about the woman i was talking to. i stood up for her and told them to not be so judging. it could be them. then out of the blue while watching the tv at the same they were talking about the unaccounted for plane's. It had happened. It had struck to close to home. I had heard that on of the planes had crashed in somerset pensylvaina. i started to get worried. i pulled up a map and looked at it to see just how close to home it hit. and sure enough it had hit less than a mile from where my best uncle (grew up together like brother and sister) was living and working. i tried to call but couldnt get through. lines were all busy. I called my mother and told her that it struck there in PA and she started to cry over the phone she said for me to keep trying and that she would try to to get ahold of him. (my uncle was my mothers son, my grandmother, she raised me sence i was 2 weeks old so she has the right to be called mom in my book.) i was so upset that i was even afraid to go outside. knowing what was going on and what not i didnt want to go outside. i was to afraid that something might happen to us. thinking about the fact that if they were striking. i was concerned about them next hitting all the missil sites. beings that there is one in cheyenne wyoming. i only live 170 miles or so from there.
still tring to call my uncle i got back to chatting and watching tv. when a message came up on my screen. someone was calling me. so i popped off and got the call. it was the gall in NYC. she had found her husband. God must have been with him. as that he was late getting to work at the WTC. and that he was a few blocks away but that he made it out intacted. she was happy. i felt good that he made it out. my heart started to sink more as i heard over the phone the cry of a young child. maybe 4-6 months old. i hung up with her and started thinking how tragic it would be if he had not been late. it hurt so much that i didnt want to think about it anymore. the day had gone by and i had yet to get ahold of my uncle. Crying and sobbing over the whole insadent. my husband came home from work. he had heard everything going on over the radio. we had heard that they were taking a picture with the satelite in space of the USA at 8 pm and that they wanted to have candles lite. (this i heard online) so me and my husband lit two candles and stood in our front yard. I didnt know if my neibors heard about it but as we stood there my neigbors came out for there houses with lit candles. we all stood there in the middle of the road (side roads for a trailer court) huddled with our candles praying for the loved ones that were taken in this tragic insadent. tears of remorse came down our faces. it was so hard for us to take what was going on. we stood there for a few hours with our candles. some of the candles would burn out but there was a neigbor that had extras and he would go around to the ones that were going out and light it the blow out the flame of the one that was almost gone. we didnt know how long we should stand there and not wanting to be the firsts one to leave the group we all stood there praying. (not being the religious type i do attend church at times and i do though on christmas and easter but not regular at anyother times). 3 days went by. Then the phone rang. it was my uncle. he told us how he seen the plane crash and that it wasnt that far from him. we were happy that he was ok but still sad that there were so many other people out there that had lost there loved ones. i didnt want to seam selfish. i was told i wasnt selfish but i felt that when i thought about how my uncle was still alive and with the family that loves him when other peoples uncls brothers sisters mothers fathers, sons and daughts were dead or missing. This tragety is hard for everyone to take. but in the end we will all show how strong we are as a nation and that this may knock us on our asses (excuse the medifor) but that we will get back up stronger than ever and we will fight back. I hate war. I think fighting is wronge but i also think that it is wronge for someone that has taken over 3000 lives should be allowed to run free and not be caught. and that he should be caught, and ran through our justice system. I know they say that he any crimanal should get a fair trial. but i also think that this trial would be as fair as it can be. keeping in mind that there were so many deaths, In my oppinion the man should be allowed to live. In our prison systems. and not in solitary. but out were the general population can get at him. so that he can die an old man knowing that everyone in our country dispies the man. Hates him and that he will die the most painfull death of all.

God Bless America Land of the Free.
Stand Stronge America!! We will show him.