story2141.xml

story2141.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-10

I work at the Marriott Library at the University of Utah, right across from the stadium where the opening and closing ceremonies for the 2002 Winter Olympics were held.
It was already a busy morning with students bustling around getting ready for classes. Just before 8 AM, I got a message from Yahoo News Alert: a plane flew into the World Trade Center. I was numb and confused. Just then my supervisors and another co-worker came in. They had heard it on the radio as they came into work. A TV was brought out from the Multi-Media Center into the main entrance area of the library and turned on to CNN. We took turns leaning over our service counter to see the picture; there were about 30-40 students, staff and faculty gathered around the box....stunned and confused. I finally walked out to get a better look...just in time to see the second plane crash into Tower 2. What sort of chaos was this? At first we thought it was some sort of horrible accident, but it couldn't happen twice, and certainly not on the same day. Tears stung the back of my eyes. It was terrifying...and confusing. Many students sat or stood glued to the television, skipping classes. Some of my part time co-workers told me that their classes were pretty empty and noone learned much; professors were too stunned to talk about things that somehow didn't seem important anymore. Then there was the plane hitting the Pentagon and the one those brave men and women managed to crash into the field in PA. The day seemed black and the darkness seemed to be permanent. Five months to the day I had lost my wonderful friend and lover to lung cancer. When I saw the tower crash down, I wanted to run and tell him, feel his arms around me comforting me...and feeling a horrible, profound grief for the men, women, and children who were losing their lovers, friends, parents, loved ones. I was too numb to cry until I got home and then I broke down completely. Nothing made sense...I, like so many Americans, had never experienced anything of this magnitude. Walking to the bus stop I could see the stadium, the stadium that, in another five months was supposed to welcome the world. Would it? Could we hold an event about peace and friendship after this awful day? I didn't think we could. New York was the world's example. The unity and the brave face they put on despite their own terror, loss, grief was awe-inspiring. It set the tone for the rest of us. We did have the Olympics and they were a huge success. The world smiled again, if only for a moment. The news coverage in the past couple weeks leading up to this first anniversary has given me a tremendous respect for those brave souls who are not only moving on but creating memorials of their lost loved ones through the lives they're creating for themselves and their children.