My 9-11 Story

The other Shannon over at Rocks in My Dryer is encouraging others to share the story of where they were on September 11, 2001. Her's is here. If you'd like to share your's or read others you can leave a link or find a link at the bottom of her post.

I was at work on the morning of September 11, 2001. Almost six months pregnant, I was actually having a pretty good morning (which meant I'd been able to hold down some breakfast). I was at my desk snacking on vanilla wafers and peanut butter, listening to the radio - oh, and working - when my sister-in-law called to tell me a plane a hit the World Trade Center. I pictured a little plane - I thought maybe some little commuter type plane had been flying in the city for some reason and gotten of course. I couldn't understand why my sister-in-law, who was at home watching the news, sounded so upset.
I remember talking casually about it to Casey and with my co-workers. And turning on the radio to see what they were saying. I especially remember not being very upset just yet.
I went into the lobby and turned on the old black and white tv just in time to see the second plane hit. My boss was standing beside me as I sat down hard on the couch. It was suddenly very obvious to me what was going on and my first concern was my brother. He was in the navy then (the Army now) and stationed at Norfolk in Virginia. Just the year before he had been on a ship in the Middle East when the USS Cole was bombed - they had passed through Yemen only days before and after the attack his ship had turned around to go back to Yemen and assist the Cole. Knowing that these planes may well send us to war, knowing that he was just down the coast from where all this was happening and might be called to go there - it just chilled me to the bone.
By then everyone of my co-workers was standing around this tiny black and white screen. We all watched together for a little while before my boss sent me to Walmart to buy a new big screen tv for the lobby. When I got to Walmart, I wasn't the only one buying a tv. It seemed like everyone had to know what was going on. How many of us were glued to our televisions that day and in the days to come? Walmart - that's where I was when I heard about the plane hitting the Pentagon. So many times we walk through the store without noticing the people around us, but that day I was so concious of the other people. There was just a sense of really being one nation that day and in the days that followed.
I cried on the way back to work thinking of the world I was bringing my baby into. I called my husband and my parents. I called friends to make sure they were safe. I prayed. And now, five years later, the world is still spinning and The One on the Throne is still in control. And I am still praying...for the safety of our nation and for the souls of our nation. None of us who lived through that day will ever forget that day. I didn't know anyone who lost their life in New York or Washington or Pennsylvania that day, but it still changed my life. Never again will any of us be able to say "it can't happen here."