I'm taking a cue from Maggie, and writing about where I was ten years ago today.
9/11/01 - A Day We Will Never Forget
I was living in Steubenville, Ohio where I was in the process of taking grad classes 5 nights a week at FUS in order to get my MBA in a year.
AND I was engaged to Phil and planning our wedding for the following May.
AND I was working full-time as the accountant at a medical office for 13 physicians.
AND I was only 22.
I was at work that morning and my co-worker who sat across the office from me was checking the news online, and said "A plane just crashed into the Twin Towers." I remember being so shocked that a pilot could have made such a HUGE mistake and flown a plane directly into a building. Then a few minutes later, he said "Another plane just hit the Towers." That's when we realized this was not a mistake...this was an attack.
Everyone in the office was scared and we didn't know what to do, so our boss just said to go home and be with our families. I went home and Phil (who was finishing his senior year at FUS and had classes cancelled for the rest of the day) came over and we sat and watched the news on tv all.day.long. We watched the towers collapse, and we heard the death toll keep rising. We saw that another plane had crashed into the Pentagon and one had crashed in PA, not too far from where we were.
I remember being in shock and then numb and then wanting to go to Confession as our whole world seemed so uncertain. I heard that some of the doctors I worked for had driven out to the site of the PA plane crash to see what they could do to help.
Phil and I just hugged each other and wondered why we were so lucky to be alive. We called family and friends and prayed for all the people who lost their lives.
Phil and I just hugged each other and wondered why we were so lucky to be alive. We called family and friends and prayed for all the people who lost their lives.
That day was so devastating and going to bed that night was surreal. I thought it was all over but wondered if I would ever feel safe again. In the days that followed, I quickly realized just how much of an impact that one day was having on our economy. I was only 22, and though I had studied accounting/economics/finance for the past 4+ years, I was still so naive as to the toll it would take on our country.
But in all the bad news, I can remember feeling a sense of pride being an American. I remember wanting to "get the bad guys" who did this to us. I remember not taking my family and friends and faith for granted anymore. I remember hearing stories of survivors and men and women who risked their lives to help others in need - and I could see God's hand in the recovery of such an evil attack. And I remember this song being the anthem of our time:
I know for me personally, that 9-11 was a wake up call. Please take four minutes and watch this video...it's a great reminder to count our blessings, check the state of our soul, and hug those we love just a little tighter because only God knows the day and hour.
So, where were you?
Reed and I were on the third day of our honeymoon. We were staying at a B&B and had a suite in their carriage house, which happened to have a radio. For some reason, I had it on that morning before breakfast. I heard it instantly, within minutes of it happening when it came across in a news bulletin.
ReplyDeleteSo much I didn't understand. Such a dark cloud to what had been special days as new husband and wife.
We went home the following day not knowing what our new life would hold with so many unknowns and threats around us.
Thankfully, our honeymoon had been spent in Northern MN and we had driven, so flying was not a problem. You want to know where I had wanted to go for our honeymoon?? For months, I tried convinicing Reed to go to New York City for our honeymoon!!! Not for any reason besides that I hadn't been there and figured if I didn't go then, we maybe never would. Isn't that something? We ended up not going there because of budget and the fact that we were in the midst of building our own home and couldn't afford to take much time away.
Praise God for building our house and not taking that trip or we wouldn've been right in the midst of it all on 9/11.
My non-schoolage children and I were to board a flight the following day to visit and to help one of my sister's with her October wedding final details. I had just suffered a miscarriage a few months prior. I was watching the news that morning and had an unsettling feeling about that first crash into the tower...I knew that a pilot could not error that spectacularly unless it was not by choice. And as I watched the coverage, the second plane hit! I was terrified, sad, and so many other emotions all at once! I had a college friend who worked in the North Tower but found out a week later, he had recently resigned and was working in another state. Another college friend was a nurse right in the middle of it all. She went for days without sleep to help the injured survivors. I still cry when I read all the personal stories about lost loved ones, heroes, sacrifices, etc. For us personally, something beautiful rose from the tragedy: one of our beautiful children was conceived during the time I was supposed to have been visiting my sister. God works in mysterious ways! God bless America and God bless all those who lost loved ones that day and because of that day.
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