nmah594.xml
Title
nmah594.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-08-29
NMAH Story: Story
September 11 is my mother's birthday. No more. She'll never celebrate it on that date again and I don't blame her. On this day we had plans to go out to dinner. I started my day in a good mood due to the splendid weather. My job in Route Sales took me into a market on Asbury Avenue in Ocean City NJ where I looked up at the television and saw a surreal vision of the World Trade Center on fire. "How terrible", I thought, "a nasty accident." I return to my truck. Minutes later I reenter the market and the second tower is a raging inferno. The hair on the back of my neck stands straight up and all I want to do right now is find a church. I go to St. Augustine's a few blocks away and stumble in, saying Hail Mary's as I collapse into a pew.
When I go back outside my wife pages me. "Do you know what's going on?" she asks, her voice thick with emotion. I tell her I do and we talk for a few minutes while she is watching the drama on TV. At one point she screams "THEY'VE JUST BOMBED THE PENTAGON!" She is crying now. "What are we going to do?" I tell her I don't know, that we just have to remain calm. I am having trouble believing my own answer. I tell her that I will go home immediately if they let our son out of school early. She doesn't want him home alone watching all of this, and neither do I. Until then, I have to keep moving and stay occupied.
On the radio, a DJ announces that a plane has crashed in a field in Pennsylvania while presumably headed for Camp David. Is the President there? How would they know if he was? In a diner an old man sitting at the counter turns around and looks at me just as the North Tower is collapsing on the screen behind him. "You know, it's only 7:00 in California" he says. I don't answer but he has confirmed my worst fear - the attack is going all the way across the country.
I feel as though it is not a beautiful day outside, but rather, an oppressive heat wave. Everyone walks in slow motion, avoiding direct eye contact. They look at their shoes, at the wall, at the ceiling, as though any acknowledgement of another person will result in a wave of tears. I move through my day, looking for any sign of normalcy.
Several stops later, I enter a small restaurant. I am standing at the cash register, waiting to get paid when I spot a sign taped to the wall. It reads " Don't be afraid of tomorrow. God is already there." Right next to me a small girl, about four years old, is seated at a table with an older woman whom I presume to be her grandmother. She is chatting and singing while kneeling on her chair, apparently delighted to be out to breakfast with her grandma! It must have looked like I was fascinated by this scene, and maybe I was. The peaceful innocence of a young child in the midst of all this horror seemed out of place, yet it was soothing at the same time.
Finally, my day ends and I return to the shelter of my home and my family. Over and over the TV replays the events of the morning. Tom Brokaw broadcasts from the New Jersey side of the Hudson River, Manhattan smouldering in the background. We are in no mood to eat and so we watch the wall to wall coverage deep into the night until it is time to sleep, but sleep does not come.
When I go back outside my wife pages me. "Do you know what's going on?" she asks, her voice thick with emotion. I tell her I do and we talk for a few minutes while she is watching the drama on TV. At one point she screams "THEY'VE JUST BOMBED THE PENTAGON!" She is crying now. "What are we going to do?" I tell her I don't know, that we just have to remain calm. I am having trouble believing my own answer. I tell her that I will go home immediately if they let our son out of school early. She doesn't want him home alone watching all of this, and neither do I. Until then, I have to keep moving and stay occupied.
On the radio, a DJ announces that a plane has crashed in a field in Pennsylvania while presumably headed for Camp David. Is the President there? How would they know if he was? In a diner an old man sitting at the counter turns around and looks at me just as the North Tower is collapsing on the screen behind him. "You know, it's only 7:00 in California" he says. I don't answer but he has confirmed my worst fear - the attack is going all the way across the country.
I feel as though it is not a beautiful day outside, but rather, an oppressive heat wave. Everyone walks in slow motion, avoiding direct eye contact. They look at their shoes, at the wall, at the ceiling, as though any acknowledgement of another person will result in a wave of tears. I move through my day, looking for any sign of normalcy.
Several stops later, I enter a small restaurant. I am standing at the cash register, waiting to get paid when I spot a sign taped to the wall. It reads " Don't be afraid of tomorrow. God is already there." Right next to me a small girl, about four years old, is seated at a table with an older woman whom I presume to be her grandmother. She is chatting and singing while kneeling on her chair, apparently delighted to be out to breakfast with her grandma! It must have looked like I was fascinated by this scene, and maybe I was. The peaceful innocence of a young child in the midst of all this horror seemed out of place, yet it was soothing at the same time.
Finally, my day ends and I return to the shelter of my home and my family. Over and over the TV replays the events of the morning. Tom Brokaw broadcasts from the New Jersey side of the Hudson River, Manhattan smouldering in the background. We are in no mood to eat and so we watch the wall to wall coverage deep into the night until it is time to sleep, but sleep does not come.
NMAH Story: Life Changed
Most importantly, it has not. I continue to work, to laugh, to love, to appreciate life. I do not live in fear of the unknown and I am certain that, eventually, cooler heads will prevail. I understand that a task as monumental as this one will take a long time to resolve and I am prepared to wait. I have confidence in my country. Many times I have witnessed the resilience of the ordinary citizen and that, I truly believe, is the backbone of our great country.
NMAH Story: Remembered
That ordinary people, who were doing nothing but going to work, were brutally and senselessly murdered. September 11 should be set aside as a national day of mourning, but not in the form of a holiday with a long weekend. We should go about our business as they intended to do, as a tribute to them.
NMAH Story: Flag
I have worn an american flag pin everyday since September 11 and will continue to do so for the rest of my life.
Citation
“nmah594.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed November 25, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/42079.