nmah4234.xml

nmah4234.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was enroute to my daughter's home to visit with my grandchildren for the day. As I pulled off the road into the driveway, a bulletin came over the car radio advising that a plane had crashed into one of the towers of the WTC. Details were still sketchy. I immediately entered the house and yelled to my daughter to put on CNN, and preceeded to watch the unfolding horror with my Mother, daughter and grandchildren.
One of our first thoughts was to immediately try calling my sister, who works ten blocks from the WTC. We were unable to reach her, and spent many hours on pins and needles, waiting to hear some word of her. She finally was able to contact us at 4:30 PM. She advised that she arrived in Manhattan late due to the subway delays, and was unaware of what was going on until she surfaced at street level. From her office building facing the WTC they were able to watch as scenes unfolded. She finally decided that she needed to leave her office, and walked to the nearest hospital to donate blood.
The need to contact my husband and five grown children, along with my siblings in New York and Missouri was instant.
The tears began to flow early that morning, and continued for many, many weeks. The heaviness in my heart was felt for many months. As a native New Yorker, growing up in the greatest city in the world was awesome. I spent quite a few years after high school working in both lower Manhattan, on both Rector St and Broad St, and in midtown Manhattan at NBC. No matter where I live, my heart will always be in my hometown, NEW YORK.

I have come to grips with my life. I was diagnosed with breast cancer in Dec 2001, spending the next 7 months going through surgery, chemotherapy and radiation treatments. During that time, I made contact with many old friends from New York, and from my high school. We felt an urgency to get in touch with one another. We renewed old friendships, got caught up on each other's lives, and made promises to all meet at our 40th reunion in 2004 without fail.
I have also felt an inner peace, and an awakening within my own mind. I need to live each day to the fullest. I try not to become agitated with anyone. I am more tolerant of other people. I am enjoying life.

Apart from always remembering the lost lives, of the innocent, the rescue workers, the heroes, we should always remember how the city, the country, and the world joined together in our time of need and sorrow.
We should always remember the renewed patriotism shown by our citizens, and try always to keep it as strong as it was that day, and the days immediately following the attacks.

Yes, my flag has flown daily since September 11th, however, my father (a naturalized citizen, originally from Germany) instilled in his children the ideals of this great land. So to fly the flag after 9/11 was automatic, as it was each and every day preceeding the attacks.
My feelings about the American Flag have never changed from the time I was a young chld. It is a beautiful flag, and it makes my heart flutter each time I see it waving in the breeze. The red, white and blue has been a part of my life from the beginning. Since 9/11, I have become known as the Flag Lady, since I have not wavered in my decision to wear my country's colors and always have with me a small American flag every day since 9/11.