nmah359.xml

nmah359.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-08-21

I just dropped of my 3-month old girl at the babysitter and I was driving on my way to work listening to a sports radio station. The D.J. said, "Hey, somebody just flew into one of the Twin Towers. What idiot would fly that close to them?" I thought that it must have been a private plane causing minimal damage. When I got to work, I heard that the second tower was hit. Suddenly, I knew this was no private plane.

We turned the TV on at work and unfortunately, what I heard was true. I immediately called my wife and said, "Leave work, get the baby, go get your kids out of school and go home!" She was worried about her boss and I said, "I don't care if you get fired, JUST GO!" She did just that and found that other moms were waiting at the school to get their kids, too.

In the mean time, the TV at work had a bad reception so an associate of mine and I left work to go to my house and check out the news. We turned on CNN and couldnt believe our eyes. I felt like I was in the Twilight Zone or something. It looked like a movie. It just didnt seem real. We also heard about the other planes at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania. We watched for a while and then he went back to the office. I waited around at home for my wife just to see that she got home OK with the kids. When she arrived, we all embraced and I went back to the office as well. I work only 5 minutes away, or else I probably would have stayed home also.

No emotion could describe how my family and I felt during the days following the event. I changed from my normal routine of sports and rock radio and I followed nothing other than the news channels, the Internet, and the news radio stations over the next two weeks. I had to know what was going on at all times. I was addicted to all of this. We went out on that Friday night (3 days later) and sang "God Bless America" and other songs as we lit candles. Our living room is now decorated in "War Time events, more specifically, 9/11. We were going to go with some other art but 9/11 changed all of that as we decided that it was time to honor our country. Needless to say, I had a hard time sleeping in the months that followed and woke up during the night every time a plane flew over our house on the way to Newark Airport. I had to cancel a flight to Chicago just 10 days after 9/11 because I didnt want to leave my baby and family. I still havent flown but plan to this November. The most startling thing was that I had just brought a newborn into this world and I was beginning to wonder why I would do that to her. At the same time, I realized that this is America and we will be vigilant. Madison (my baby girl) couldn't have begun her life in a better place.

Those who died should DEFINITELY be remembered first. No one deserved a fate like that. Secondly, the heroes such as the NYPD, NYFD, EMS, other Police and Firemen who came from other areas to help, and Todd Beamer and his team of heroes should be remembered.

What also should be remembered is the fact that while evildoers were trying to tear us apart, our Great Country came together as one. Flags, candles, donations, and physical labor at Ground Zero were a sign that we will not "survive" but we will "thrive". USA stands for UNITED States for a reason.

Yes, and we still do. I have a much bigger appreciation for the Stars and Stripes. And notice them all over the place. I still look for Red White and Blue items to help decorate our living room. We are very much still "The Land of the Free", and even more so, "The Home of the Brave"