I remember in elementary school that I had an assignment where I had to ask my parents, or at least someone old enough to remember, where they were when JFK was assassinated. My mom, she was in school, my dad, he was working in the fields. I'm pretty sure that my kids are going to come home from school some day and ask "Where were you when the towers fell?"
I was at home, 38 weeks pregnant with Bailey when Jamie called from school and told me to turn on the radio. He said that on the bus up to school he heard a news break on the radio and was trying to sort it out. He wanted me to find out what was going on and let him know. I remember feeling shocked, what else could I feel really? After I explained to Jamie what had happened, I went to my sister's house to watch the news, as we couldn't get the news on our TV. I was at her house when the second tower gave way and we watched with the rest of the world. I stayed there until I had to go work at the Middle School. There the teacher that I was working with and I let the kids watch some news and then we talked with the kids about what was going on, but we also did some classwork that day.
The other thing that was going on in my life, was that I was the project manager for a Shuttle payload. We were handing over our experiments to NASA at the time. I couldn't go myself, being so pregnant, but there was a team of three that were covering for me at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. KSC happens to be on a military base. They were promptly escorted off base about an hour after the first plane hit. I was really concerned that we might not be able to fly our experiments on the Shuttle. After years of blood, sweat and tears getting these experiments ready, it was overwhelming to think that they might never fly. My team spent the next few days milling around Florida, they couldn't come home because the airports were closed, they couldn't work on the experiments because KSC was on lock down, and they couldn't enjoy the beaches because there was a tropical depression battering the Florida coast. It was a depressing time. Luckily, NASA decided to let them finish getting the experiments ready a few days later, and they were able to make it back home with very little resistance, once the airports were open and running.
During all of this I remember looking at my swollen belly and wondering what kind of world the baby I was carrying would grow up in. It was hard not to wish for something better for my child. I also remember being very concerned about the whole thing turning into a witch hunt. I knew that it was a possibility that we would spend a lot of time accusing innocent people because we feared that something like this might happen again.
So, where were you when the towers fell?
5 comments:
I was at work listening to the radio. Several of us at work listened to the same station (with headphones)and thought it was a joke at first, but when they came back from commercial and and told us about the second plane, it became very real. Soon everyone was looking around at everyone else and saying "did you hear what happened?"
Our first break was at 9:15 am and I was supposed to call Aaron - it was his birthday - but they called a meeting to brief everyone, so I had to make the call short and run to the meeting.
As the morning wore on and Pentagon was hit, all I could think of was my uncle who works there. Eventually we found out he was fine and was assisting in the rescue and recovery effort.
It is definitely a day I will never forget. I was pregnant with David at the time, but only Aaron and I knew, my first OB appointment was the following week.
I was in the TSC getting my haircut. I remembered thinking--"Why are they broadcasting about the WTC bombing? That was years ago--is it an anniversary?" Then I realized it was something new and I was shocked!
I spent a good part of the rest of the day in the Physics Grad office. I remember talking to Clint who commented on how desensitized our generation is because of all the action flicks. He said his initial reaction was, no joke, "That. Was. AWESOME!", like it was some visual effect, and then realized how sick that reaction was.
I remember sitting next to a couple of the AF Captains getting their PhD's talking to each other with stone faces about what alert our country was at. I guess you have to be cool when you are in the military.
I remember sobbing at night, thinking what has the world come to? I remember the national day of prayer. I saw a country humbled and pulled together.
Now I see a nation pulled apart again over elections and the war in Iraq. I see debates over gay marriage and taking God out of school. I think, "Did we learn anything as a nation?" Not much, apparently. I'm glad we still take a moment out to remember, but that's all it seems to be anymore, a moment.
Thank you . . . I thought about this today and I'll write about it on my blog. Love you.
I was just about ready to go to class at USU. I went in my mom's room to say goodbye when my Grandma called. I don't remember exactly what she said, but she told me to turn on the news. So my mom and I turned it on, and I stood there by her bed in horror. After several minutes, I asked my mom if I should wake my sister, who was still sleeping. We decided I should. We all watched the news together for while. I don't think any of us said much.
I don't remember much more about that day, except for later in the afternoon, I was headed to another class (I skipped my morning class), listening to the radio reports, and I just burst out in tears. It took several weeks before I stopped crying about it daily.
What a strange time that was. I was at home just getting up with my children. I turned on the t.v. and was very confused. I was trying to figure out if it was a movie and why it would be on so early in the morning. It took quite a bit of time before I realized they were serious. It was unbelievable.
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