11
Where Were You When….
Posted under How I See It by MikeThis is a reprint from a post I did a year ago to commemorate the Day of Remembrance.
It was about six thirty in the morning West Coast time.
My ex and I had just recently completed our divorce and I was living alone. I had recently lost my job at a software firm (tech bubble burst) and was kind of enjoying the time off. An extended vacation if you will. I was heading to the ex’s house to pick up the kids and take them to school.
I popped into Starbucks for something to get the cobwebs out of my head. I don’t do mornings well. There was some guy mentioning while in line for his brew that a plane had flew into one of New York’s twin towers.
My mind went, “huh, weird.”
I grabbed my coffee and headed out the door to get the girls to school. When I got to the house they had the television on. Man, it looked bad. Smoke everywhere, just an eerie site. This was a really bad accident.
I gathered the kids into the car and drove them to school. Everyone was talking about it at the school yard and the consensus was what a tragic mishap. I got in the car and headed back home. The radio was full of the stories and then it came. A second plane hit the other tower.
“Oh my God.”
I got home and ran to the tv to watched the video of the second plane. What the hell is happening? What is going on? I sat mesmerized by the images. Smoke, people, paper looking like confetti in the air. Why?
“A plane flew into the Pentagon?”
Now I’m freaked out. I call the ex and we decided to leave the kids in school. No reports on the West Coast and I am literally ten minutes from the school if something happens. My youngest is seven and the oldest is thirteen. It was better to have them preoccupied with school today.
The rest of the day was kind of a blur. Another plane crashed in Pennsylvania. The Towers began to crumble to the earth, office workers, firemen, policemen, it all seemed surreal.
The next day the kids stayed home with their mom. I got a call from my church. They asked if I would help. They were opening the sanctuary for people to come pray. I was glad I had something to do and wanted to support those who were hurt and confused about the day before.
Every generation has had a “where were you when”. Our grandparents had World War II. Our parents had the Kennedy assassination. We have 9-11.
Let’s hope the generation we are raising doesn’t have a “where were you when”.
[...] were you when… Sep.11, 2009 in Daily Entry It’s the anniversary of 9/11 and Mike at Unraveling Mysteries posted his, so I’m going to post [...]
I had just started a new job. We ended up shutting the office down and going to the bosses house and watched it all on TV.
While is definitely is a “where were you when” moment, it does seem like too many are forgetting already.
Russ´s last blog ..Lighter note, by Russ
It scares me that our generation seems to have more than a few “where were you when” moments. Our kids were about the same age range, Mike. I’m wondering how much of it they will remember when they get old.
Cocotte´s last blog ..This B*tch Has Got To Be Stopped
“Where were you when moments” are exactly it. Let us hope that it does not happen again. It still makes my stomach turn and my body boil in anger.
Dad Blog´s last blog ..Remembering Moms and Dads from September 11th 2001
worst day of my life so far – and there have many of them…
I posted last year about it too.
swirl girl´s last blog ..The One In Which " #@&$! Off" Was Not An Appropriate Response
My kids were probably to young to remember the full impact of that day, and I agree with you. I hope they don’t have one of these “where were you” days in their lifetime.
terri´s last blog ..Will I ever get past this?
A day of sorrow and disbelief for sure. I hope my children do not experience such a tragic event in their future.
I was in Bangkok. I couldn’t get home for days. It was truly a terrible day. I hope my kids don’t have day like that, but they probably will. Well maybe not that bad. That was one of the all time worsts.
Otter´s last blog ..A Less Than Happy Birthday
I was in the military in Japan. We were locked up in the house due to a huge typhoon. I knew it was bad when they called us into work during the typhoon. I told my husband “this is it we’re going to war” I didn’t have cable yet so I didn’t see the planes go into the towers until I got to work, cried like a baby. So sept 11 wasn’t the worst day of my life, sept 12 was the day I saw what happened. THAT was the worst day of my life.
I was at work watching the news stream on the MSNBC website. Weird day. I hope my kids don’t have one of those, but I’ve had a few already and I’m only 40. Let’s just say I hope they are much older when their turn comes.
OhCaptain´s last blog ..Backspacer
Add A Comment