story6660.xml
Title
story6660.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-12
911DA Story: Story
I had some appointments with some landscapers to get quotes at one of my properties the morning of Sept. 11th. For some reason that morning, I had decided to shut the radio off and enjoy the silence as I made my way to the property.
When I got there I decided to pop my head in and say hi to the receptionist and to let her know I was there if they needed anything. But as I made my way to her desk I heard Bob and Tom on the radio, but they sounded different. If you know Bob and Tom they are slapstick comics who are hardly serious about anything, lots of laughter and banter. But what I heard that morning was a solumn and gravely somber comentary.
I asked the receptionist what was going on and she told me a plane had struck one of the World Trade Center buildings. I was in shock at the misfortune, but at that point no one was sure if it was an accident or not. Unfortunately, I had to go meet my appointment so I was unable to listen to the events as they unfolded.
As soon as the meeting was over I immediately went inside to the conferance room where there was a television. I was in amazement when I saw BOTH buildings were now smoking. They played replay after replay of the second airplane and I couldn't believe my eyes! What was going on?! And there are two other planes that've changed corse?! This can't be real! I then had to meet my second appointment but I sat in my car every opportunity I got.
I called the office, I called my husband, my mother...to see if they had heard the news. Everyone was glued to their T.V.s and radios.
I went back to the office and unfortunatly, you cannot get radio reception where our offices are located so we spent the rest of the day on the internet trying to find out all we could. I called the daycare to see what the procedures were for picking my son up and what procations they were taking.
That night my husband, 3 year old son and I watched replay after replay, footage after footage. people running, people screaming and, sadly, people jumping out of those buildings. My son asked why the "airplane crashed the buildings" and the only thing I could come up with to explain what was happening is that "their are some people who don't like us and they do bad things sometimes". I don't know if that was the correct response, but it was the best I could do to put the magnitude of such a horrific event into words for a three year old.
I remember how eerily quiet the skies were too. I live about 5 minutes from the Indianapolis International Airport. There are planes coming and going every few minutes on a normal day, and it's a sound you get used to, to the point where you don't even notice it, but that day...it was so quiet...too quiet. The absence of the noise only seemed to make the silence louder.
But I thanked the Lord above that my family was safe and prayed for those who had loved ones involved. It just made my realize that life is unpredictable. You never know when "this time" will be the last time.
When I got there I decided to pop my head in and say hi to the receptionist and to let her know I was there if they needed anything. But as I made my way to her desk I heard Bob and Tom on the radio, but they sounded different. If you know Bob and Tom they are slapstick comics who are hardly serious about anything, lots of laughter and banter. But what I heard that morning was a solumn and gravely somber comentary.
I asked the receptionist what was going on and she told me a plane had struck one of the World Trade Center buildings. I was in shock at the misfortune, but at that point no one was sure if it was an accident or not. Unfortunately, I had to go meet my appointment so I was unable to listen to the events as they unfolded.
As soon as the meeting was over I immediately went inside to the conferance room where there was a television. I was in amazement when I saw BOTH buildings were now smoking. They played replay after replay of the second airplane and I couldn't believe my eyes! What was going on?! And there are two other planes that've changed corse?! This can't be real! I then had to meet my second appointment but I sat in my car every opportunity I got.
I called the office, I called my husband, my mother...to see if they had heard the news. Everyone was glued to their T.V.s and radios.
I went back to the office and unfortunatly, you cannot get radio reception where our offices are located so we spent the rest of the day on the internet trying to find out all we could. I called the daycare to see what the procedures were for picking my son up and what procations they were taking.
That night my husband, 3 year old son and I watched replay after replay, footage after footage. people running, people screaming and, sadly, people jumping out of those buildings. My son asked why the "airplane crashed the buildings" and the only thing I could come up with to explain what was happening is that "their are some people who don't like us and they do bad things sometimes". I don't know if that was the correct response, but it was the best I could do to put the magnitude of such a horrific event into words for a three year old.
I remember how eerily quiet the skies were too. I live about 5 minutes from the Indianapolis International Airport. There are planes coming and going every few minutes on a normal day, and it's a sound you get used to, to the point where you don't even notice it, but that day...it was so quiet...too quiet. The absence of the noise only seemed to make the silence louder.
But I thanked the Lord above that my family was safe and prayed for those who had loved ones involved. It just made my realize that life is unpredictable. You never know when "this time" will be the last time.
Collection
Citation
“story6660.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed January 10, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/4108.