story3103.xml

story3103.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

It was so unbelievable to hear what was going on. I had to hurry to finish putting on my makeup and rush in to work to find out what was going on. I turned on my radio and was listening to the disbelief and horrors as the second plane hit the second tower, then the Pentagon was hit, and then the plane crashed in PA (at least that's the way I remember it). We had TV's in the cafeteria and lots of people were crowded around them, including myself, looking at the live news broadcasts in disbelief of what was going on. And there were a few tears being shed by women and men alike. My first thought was, of course, my family. I went back to my phone and started calling my 7 kids (one at elementary school), my Dad, my Sister, and friends. I wanted to talk to them in person before the day went any further. My second thought was that maybe we should leave town because a nuclear tower is located at the J. J. Pickle Research Center right next to the IBM plant. But I settled myself down because I didn't want to add to my children's worry. I decided it would be best to stay and weather the storm, so to speak. No one could really concentrate at work, so I went out for lunch. You want to know what was really strange?? I noticed an eerie silence outside while walking out to my truck. There were no cars gunning their engines to pass each other. There were no airplanes flying overhead and making their passes to land at the airport. There were no honking of horns in fits of road rage. It was eerily quiet except for the quiet humming of car engines as they drove by, going the speed limit or slower. There's a railroad track right next to the plant, and no trains were going by either. Nothing was flying overhead, no tempers were being lost, people were frightened. Of course, everyone figured that we were just being cautious, but part of the reason had to be that we better be quiet before something falls upon us. Let's not bring any attention to ourselves unsuspectingly. When I picked up my daughter from day care and went home, I felt so relieved. What bothered me was that my husband didn't even ask how I was doing, considering the day's events. I felt hurt. I thought he loved more than what he displayed. Maybe he just figured that nothing would happen to us, who knows, but that is part of my memories now too. Yes, it was a day to remember. I don't look up in the sky every time I walk outside any more in dread of what might be coming at us. Flights returned to almost normal about a month later, just not as many flights. I was hoping that my children didn't have to live thru such terror and war as I did with Vietnam, but you never know what the future holds, right? All that matters now is that we learn from this and make our homeland safe and secure, and appreciate our families even more. Our family makes it a point to get together once a month and just appreciate being together. We used to wait for holidays, but not any more. We had to strenghten our bonds and our faith. We cannot let terrorists affect our way of life, our freedom, and our pride. We will not twist our religious beliefs as a means to a perceived justifiable end. God is always watching over us, I believe, and He will always be there for us. Say a prayer at night thanking Him for all the freedom he has given us. Keep God in our Pledge of Allegiance. We shouldn't turn our backs on what sacrifices were made to give us our freedom. God Bless America!!