story3528.xml
Title
story3528.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2002-09-11
911DA Story: Story
Like so many other people, when I heard about the first plane I thought it was an accident. When the second plane hit, I thought the news service made a mistake and reported the same incident twice. "What? Now they say the Pentagon? Well, was it the Pentagon or the World Trade Center," I wondered. It was incredulous that it could have been both. Stunned to hear the truth, we gathered into a conference room to watch the tragedy unfold.
I lived in Michigan, so far away, and I didn't know anyone in New York or Washington, or in that Pennsylvania field, but I was grief stricken. I remember kneeling and sobbing alone in front of my TV until I thought I would vomit. I prayed for the rescue workers knowing that if I felt like this, they were grieving so much more deeply. I was so far away from New York and Washington, DC, I questioned why it affected me so profoundly, it didn't really happen to me... But yes it did. It happened to us all. A year later, when I see a slide show and even as I write this... I cry. My tears are proof that I have not healed completely, but how do we heal from something like this? Still, I have faith that we will heal, because even deep wounds heal eventually even if they scar. Out of the scarred earth, will come memorials to the dead, to the ones they left behind, and to the public servants who endured months of combing the rubble. Out of our scarred hearts has already sprung a deeper respect and love for our country and a new realization that we must have the strength and comfort of our God and the hope for new life that He brings. For me, September 11 will always be a day of bitter sadness mixed with a sweet hope for the future.
I lived in Michigan, so far away, and I didn't know anyone in New York or Washington, or in that Pennsylvania field, but I was grief stricken. I remember kneeling and sobbing alone in front of my TV until I thought I would vomit. I prayed for the rescue workers knowing that if I felt like this, they were grieving so much more deeply. I was so far away from New York and Washington, DC, I questioned why it affected me so profoundly, it didn't really happen to me... But yes it did. It happened to us all. A year later, when I see a slide show and even as I write this... I cry. My tears are proof that I have not healed completely, but how do we heal from something like this? Still, I have faith that we will heal, because even deep wounds heal eventually even if they scar. Out of the scarred earth, will come memorials to the dead, to the ones they left behind, and to the public servants who endured months of combing the rubble. Out of our scarred hearts has already sprung a deeper respect and love for our country and a new realization that we must have the strength and comfort of our God and the hope for new life that He brings. For me, September 11 will always be a day of bitter sadness mixed with a sweet hope for the future.
Collection
Citation
“story3528.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 27, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/6171.