story3311.xml

story3311.xml

born-digital

story

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no

2002-09-11

I was sitting in the living room. I was a stay-at-home mom, though not by choice. I had been trying to find a job in the Information Technology field for over a year, but the area where I lived was more engineering than IT. I lived about five air miles north of the Patuxent Naval Air Station, and Research and Development facility; I was also about three air miles from the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Facility.

I was watching PBS with my not-quite one-year old son, Joshua. My four-year old daughter, Majel, was at pre-K at Patuxent Elementary School. My husband of 18 months Fred, was at work.

The phone rang, and I saw on the Caller ID that it was Fred. This was not unusual because we often talked five or more times a day. I answered the phone, and he said, "Are you watching TV?". I said, "Yes, with Joshua." He said that someone had just flown a plane into the World Trade Centers in New York. I thought he had heard it wrong. Fred has a tendency to exaggerate things a bit.

I switched the TV to CNN, and couldn't believe my eyes. It was surreal. I watched as the second tower was hit. Then, one tower fell. I'll remember what the CNN anchor said until the day I die: "What can you say?" as the tower fell. The Pentagon was hit. Rumors of a hit at the State Department, where my father's company has a huge contract. My extended family all live in New York, and most work in the City. Were they OK? Was my father at a meeting in the State Department? He had contracts at the Pentagon, too. Then the plane in Shanksville. Did our fighters have to shoot down a plane full of Americans?

A slow realization hit me. I live sandwiched between two prime targets: a nuclear power plant and a naval air station. Fred was on the same wavelength, because seconds later, the phone rang, and Fred said, "We need to get out of there, and go to Mom's." We decided that our daughter should stay at the school as long as it took for Fred to come home, and me to pack us up.

That's what I did. I packed baby food, formula, diaper, wipes, clothes for all of us, important papers, and a few momentos. Fred came home, but only after his bosses gave him a hard time for being so scared. (Fred was later let go from that company, and has always felt that it was due to him leaving the job site on September 11th.)

The rush of emotions over the course of that day was amazing. Disbelief that the Twin Towers were gone. My family was from New York, and I had eaten dinner at the Windows on the World many times, been on the observation deck many times, made fun of my step-mother because she was afraid of heights and wouldn't go near the edge (she bought a lot of momentos from the Gift Shops!). Anger that people could do this to each other. Fear for the safety of friends and family in Washington and New York. Sadness that belief in God could be so twisted to produce such evil. Anxiety about being so close to potential targets. Confusion about what was going on, where, when, and how.

On the drive to Fred's mom's house, the contrails of airplanes were all over the place. There are several military bases between our house and Fred's mom's, and the jets were obviously scrambled. Once there, we saw a plane overhead without any clear markings on it, and called the closest military base. Minutes later, two fighter jets went zooming directly overhead. Americans aren't used to living this way.

I called one of my uncles in New York, and confirmed that they were all ok. I called my father, and they had not yet accounted for all 1,200 of his employees.

Fred's cousin worked in the Pentagon, and called Fred's mom's house to tell us she was safe, and trying to get home. She had witnessed some very horrible things, and barely escaped death. She had been stuck at the copy machine, which was acting up. She couldn't make her rounds because of the machine. Her rounds took her through the section that was destroyed. If that copier hadn't malfunctioned, and she was on schedule, she'd have been more seriously hurt. That haunts her, and she hasn't set foot in the Pentagon since.

My fears for our country, my shame at the anger I feel, my concerns for my children all became very focused that day. I now work for a contractor that supports the Patuxent Naval Air Station. All day long, I hear and see military aircraft flying around. It scares me and provides me comfort, at the same time. America is a wonderful place. Why do people hate us for being Americans? What did those almost 3,000 men, women, and children ever do to anyone to deserve such a fate?

I hope that this September 11 Digital Archive provides some insight for future generations. Evil exists, but God will triumph in the end. God Bless America, and keep us safe from further harm.

Requiem aeternam dona ets, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ets (Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon them.)