story4562.xml

story4562.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

That morning, I got up and brought my car in for servicing. I had taken the day off to be with my daughter to shop for bridesmaids dresses for my upcoming wedding. I was at the car dealer when someone from the service dept. came and said to turn the channel and that a plane had hit the world trade center. I just assumed that it was an accident. Then on the way home, a local radio station that has been known for pulling jokes like this, was announcing that the world trade center had been hit and that it was a terrorist attack. It got me really mad that they were at it again. Then I went inside and turned the tv on. I watched in horror as the first tower had smoke billowing out of it and then as I was watching I saw the second plane hit the 2nd tower. I was shocked and stunned and couldn't believe that this could happen in our country and so close to home. My daughter came and we watched with disbelief. I called my fiance on the phone and was telling him what I had seen and then the reports came on about the pentagon. I told him, I thought it was a terrorist attack and that I thought we were at war. It was an odd feeling of shock, not wanting to leave the tv as I wasn't sure what to do or what was going to happen next. My daughter and I watched for a while and then decided that there was nothing that we could do, so we went to our scheduled appt. and the one of the ladies at Cameo Bridal Salon's son hadn't called and he worked in the city. We shopped and tried to find prices on dresses but the maker was located in NYC and the city had basically come to a halt. Her son called while we were there and that was a relief. While we were there, we also found my wedding gown. This day has such bitter sweet meaning to me. It was sweet because I got to spend a special day with my 18 year old daughter and we found our special dresses, but it was bitter because we lost so many lives that day and the country experience something horrid. I still feel very empty today remembering what took place last year. I went to a memorial service this morning at work. I think that we were all dreading today, partially in fear that we would have more problems and also as we didn't know how we would each handle our emotions. There was music and we all said the pledge of allegiance and there were people who actually went down to the site to help people looking for their loved ones. There was one woman that has a dog that helps people deal with grief. She told a story of what she felt like and how proud she was of her dog for all the hard work he had done that day. One thing I do realize is that this country is strong and that we will all bind together to fight this awful tradegy that has befallen our land.