Where was I the Morning of September 11, 2001?
I remember distinctly where I was that morning. I had gotten home around 7:30 that morning. I had pulled a 12- hour shift at the local volunteer fire department. I was sitting on the sofa listening to the radio. My husband had gone to work at 8:00 am. Our 3 year old daughter was still asleep. I listen to the radio to have "down-time" and I use it to think, believe it or not. I was listening to Z104 at the time. They play all types of music (pop, rock, rap). Their morning hosts are also known for practical jokes. So when they said that a plane hit the World Trade Center I thought it was one of their practical jokes. I turned the radio to another station and they were reporting the same info. I realized that it wasn't a joke and turned my TV on to NBC and The Today Show. I watched the second plane hit. I sat in awe. My daughter woke up and came to ask me if she could watch cartoons. I said no. She didn't quite understand why I wouldn't change the channel. Somewhere along the way, I allowed her to watch cartoons in my bedroom. I remained in the other room watching the news coverage. When the third plane hit the Pentagon, it hit too close to home for me. I could not believe my eyes. I called my (at the time) best friend and she was so unmoved by it. Her attitude was like "So?" I was in tears. I was calling everyone in my family just to talk. I was in shock. I was heartbroken. I was devestated. I was mad. I remember honoring the passengers of Flight 93 for their heroic efforts. Who knows how many more lives they spared even at the cost of their own. When the first tower fell, I remember jumping up and screaming and crying. All I could think about was all the people still left in the building. And I was in hysterics again when the second tower fell.
Later that evening, I went to my volunteer fire department to pull another shift. My chief was already making plans for some members to go to New York. Our training officer/captain had already been sent to the Pentagon through a task force he is on. I was not able to go to New York with the first group. I was promised a place with the second group if one was sent. There was only one group sent to New York. Our department sent 11 people in that group. We watched the news coverage all night. We talked to each other about how we felt. Part of us didn't want to believe what had happened. Within a week we had begun a "Fill the Helmet" campaign and raised $13,000.00 for the families of the Firefighters, EMS Personnel and Police Officers that died in the World Trade Center attack.
I wrote this 2 and a half years after the attack. And I still remember vividly the events of that day. |
