Looking Back
I know there are hundreds of thousands of people sitting back today remembering where they were and what they were doing when the terrorist attacks began on September 11, 2001. I am one of them, and here is my story.
I had gotten off of work at 7am (I was on third shift at the time) and was on my way to school in Fort Wayne. I had just decided that summer to go back and start to make something of myself; after all, it was 5 years since I graduated high school and many in my peer group had already received their bachelors and several were enrolled in graduate school. 2001 was a big year for me. It was the year I found out my ex husband had a girlfriend (thus making him my ex), I met my current husband and became pregnant with my oldest child. Anyway, as I was heading into the city listening to Bob and Tom I realized I was dangerously low on gas so, I stopped at a little gas station off the beaten path, filled up and got back into the car. When I turned the radio back on I entered in mid story. And if you have ever listened to Bob and Tom you know that their stories are, well, not always the best and they often prank on the live radio; therefore, I thought that was what was happening.
Boy was I wrong. I kept hearing more and more, but still wasn't quite sure what was going on. In some ways it reminded me of what folks must have thought back in the 40s when Orson Wells' War of the World was read over the radio. Once I got to campus the administration had wheeled televisions out into the commons areas as well as many classrooms, and that is when I realized this wasn't a prank, no, this was terror. This was worse than any horror movie or story I could think of. My country, our country, was being attacked because of some unknown reason; mostly because of who we are.
I continued on to my class. I had Math 100 level something (pre-calculus) and no one could concentrate. The professor, I can't remember her name now, didn't even try to teach, she just let us talk. There was a girl in my class whose father worked at the Pentagon, her phone, needless to say rang off the hook that morning due to many of her family members trying to find out if she had heard from her dad. I'd like to say I know what happened to her father, and even to her, but that was the last day she came to class. I sincerely hope she had a happy ending, though I will never know.
Now, here it is, 10 years later and I'm still enrolled in school (3 major changes and a degree later) and I can remember almost every detail. I'm sure over the years more and more will fade, but then again, maybe not. Great tragedy has a way of impacting people, of imprinting images and facts on the brain.
We had a beautiful service at church this morning. The offertory and special song were done in remembrance of the day, but though the song/music was beautiful it is the pictures that got to me. You really don't know what is at the heart of a person until you see them for who they really are and more so when it is caught on film. Click here for some picuters.
Here are two that make the tears flow for me (they are a couple of the most well known.)
I have nothing else to say, save for may God bless you as you remember this day.
I had gotten off of work at 7am (I was on third shift at the time) and was on my way to school in Fort Wayne. I had just decided that summer to go back and start to make something of myself; after all, it was 5 years since I graduated high school and many in my peer group had already received their bachelors and several were enrolled in graduate school. 2001 was a big year for me. It was the year I found out my ex husband had a girlfriend (thus making him my ex), I met my current husband and became pregnant with my oldest child. Anyway, as I was heading into the city listening to Bob and Tom I realized I was dangerously low on gas so, I stopped at a little gas station off the beaten path, filled up and got back into the car. When I turned the radio back on I entered in mid story. And if you have ever listened to Bob and Tom you know that their stories are, well, not always the best and they often prank on the live radio; therefore, I thought that was what was happening.
Boy was I wrong. I kept hearing more and more, but still wasn't quite sure what was going on. In some ways it reminded me of what folks must have thought back in the 40s when Orson Wells' War of the World was read over the radio. Once I got to campus the administration had wheeled televisions out into the commons areas as well as many classrooms, and that is when I realized this wasn't a prank, no, this was terror. This was worse than any horror movie or story I could think of. My country, our country, was being attacked because of some unknown reason; mostly because of who we are.
I continued on to my class. I had Math 100 level something (pre-calculus) and no one could concentrate. The professor, I can't remember her name now, didn't even try to teach, she just let us talk. There was a girl in my class whose father worked at the Pentagon, her phone, needless to say rang off the hook that morning due to many of her family members trying to find out if she had heard from her dad. I'd like to say I know what happened to her father, and even to her, but that was the last day she came to class. I sincerely hope she had a happy ending, though I will never know.
Now, here it is, 10 years later and I'm still enrolled in school (3 major changes and a degree later) and I can remember almost every detail. I'm sure over the years more and more will fade, but then again, maybe not. Great tragedy has a way of impacting people, of imprinting images and facts on the brain.
We had a beautiful service at church this morning. The offertory and special song were done in remembrance of the day, but though the song/music was beautiful it is the pictures that got to me. You really don't know what is at the heart of a person until you see them for who they really are and more so when it is caught on film. Click here for some picuters.
Here are two that make the tears flow for me (they are a couple of the most well known.)
I have nothing else to say, save for may God bless you as you remember this day.
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