nmah133.xml

nmah133.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-08-13

I was working and received a call from my husband that the World Trade Center had been hit by a plane. I thought he was kidding. I turned on the radio to hear that a second plane had hit the second tower of the WTC. I went into shock and called my family. All I could hear was the radio reports as to what was happening. The internet was jammed and I couldn't get on the news sites. Rumors were spreading about attacks on the White House and Congress after the Pentagon strikes. We have an Air Force recruiting office down the hall from our office and they headed to Kelly Air Force base within an hour of the attacks...that brought home the terror of the morning. I finally went home two hours after the attack after picking up my daughter from daycare. I couldn't work and no one else could in the office either. I watched television throughout the day and night devastated by the events and wondering how a people could hate so much. I collected the newspapers for the following two weeks and after reading them I have sealed them away for my daughter.

My life remains the same. I still do the daily activities that I did before and will continue to fly. I do find that the Patriotic songs I have always listened to and that have always filled me with pride now make me cry. I get weepy at the site of the American Flag and the images of the WTC when viewing an old movie.

Everything. The site of people helping people. Strangers reaching out and helping their fellow man in a time of great crisis. People coming together and crossing barriers to comfort and help one another.

Yes, I stood in line for two hours with my three year old daughter to get a flag. I had always said I would get one and fly it before September 11. I have since taken that first flag down and written on the side "Sept. 11, 2001." This is for my daughter's collection that I have been putting together. A rememberance of why America is so great and cannot be squashed. My feelings toward the flag today are the same as they were prior to the attacks. I Love the flag and what it stands for...Freedom, Liberty and Justice. I will always have a flag flying in front of my house and will teach my daughter the significance of the flag and what it stands for, not just words, but the meaning and spirit and the pride.