nmah4692.xml

nmah4692.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-12

I was sleeping soundly in my bed in Dallas, Texas when my phone rang. It was my 81 year old mother, Jolene Caldwell MacLean, calling from North Carolina. I'd forgotten to turn my message machine down so I fussed at myself as my mother's voice, in the distance, was yelling for me to turn my TV on. I ignored Mom, as I'm a deep sleeper. It was her THIRD telephone call when she said, "Kat, we're at War! We're under attack!", that got my attention.

I popped up out of bed, turned the TV to CNN, went for the phone and arrived back at the bed just in time to see the second plane hit the World Trade Center. It was like a Dali painting. It was unreal. Just then,the news starts talking about planes that have been hijacked and there are more.

I sat on the phone with my Mother as we watched together, a half country apart from each other, another plane hit the Pentagon. THE PENTAGON for heaven's sake!!! Our *fortress* of the Armed Forces is HIT!!! Next we hear of the 4th plane. Another one! Suddenly, we hear the 4th plane has crashed in the countryside of Pennsylvania.

Mother and I both said, at the same time, "The passengers found out! They knew! They crashed the plane."

We knew there were many hero's being made that day. We knew God's angels were busy.

I told Mother not to worry. Dad had built a bomb shelter years ago under our home that we used as a basement. I told her that I'd wait a bit to see what else was going to happen. If anything else were to happen then, I was on my way from Dallas to North Carolina.

Before hanging up the phone, Mother said,"This is it. This is the beginning of the end. We've just witnessed the beginning of the next World War." I hung the phone up, thinking, "Dear Lord, please let her be wrong.", knowing in my heart, she was so right.

It's a year later. We're still fighting and there is no end in sight.

My life HAS changed in that I watch people more. I, shamefully admit, watch people who look Middle Eastern. I seem to notice
people of Middle Eastern descent more.

When I fly, I watch to see who is on my flight.

I'm leary of crowds and do not go to public gatherings. I spend MOST of my time at home, alone.

I think we should never forget what happened in our country. I think that we should never, EVER let our guard down again!!!!!

Anyone who wants to kill a lot of Americans can. If someone wants to kill themselves and they plan things out properly, they can fulfill that plan. There isn't a whole lot we can do to stop them.

I think we should always remember to be vigilant.

I lit candles after 9/11/01. I didn't fly a flag until months later. Seeing the pride in being an American was wonderful and I believe brought people together.

My feelings about the flag haven't changed. I do believe that some folks took it to an extreme.