a date not to be forgotten
i wasn't going to post today, but after reading some of your 9/11 stories, i couldn't help but reflect on mine. and every once in awhile, apart from being a knitting blog, i look at this as kind of a record of my life. so it seems only appropriate that one of the most vivid memories in my life should be recorded here. knitting content tomorrow.
each of us has our own story of that day. for me, it was a day that forced me out of my naive thinking. it made me see the world we live in for the first time. and it made me scared. i remember waking up to the radio that morning hearing the local dj interviewing a starbucks barista in new york over the phone. she was describing the chaos. i had a hard time understanding what was going on so i got up and turned on the tv in my living room. i can't even recall exactly what i saw but i believe the second plane had just struck. i called my dad. "did you see what happened?" in my head i had no idea what was going on, were we at war? was the whole country under attack? and then i got dressed and drove to work.
on my way in to the office, the pentagon was hit. i listened to the radio gripping my steering wheel and staring at the seattle skyline. were we next? the columbia tower was in front of me as i crossed over the ship canal bridge. i couldn't help but be struck with fear. the unknown made me nervous. but what really kept going through my mind was, am i really going into work? is it really business as usual? and in typical american fashion, it was. i still put in my 8 hours that day. i may have surfed the internet more than normal, but i worked.
and i thought is was ridiculous. let us go home and be with our families. let us try and make sense of what was happening. but my responsibility that day was clearly to my employer. it felt very wrong. besides the sheer horror of the events of the day, that is what i remember the most. working.
the fall of 2001 made me feel more like an adult than i ever had before (i was 26 then). i experienced september 11th, a terrible break up and watching my uncle die of cancer. my view of life has never been the same. but after these 5 years the thing i have come to know the most is not to live in fear. will another attack happen? sadly, i think so. but will it control my actions and my belief that more of us in this world want peace than not? no.
we all have our own story. it is what still bonds us after 5 years.
each of us has our own story of that day. for me, it was a day that forced me out of my naive thinking. it made me see the world we live in for the first time. and it made me scared. i remember waking up to the radio that morning hearing the local dj interviewing a starbucks barista in new york over the phone. she was describing the chaos. i had a hard time understanding what was going on so i got up and turned on the tv in my living room. i can't even recall exactly what i saw but i believe the second plane had just struck. i called my dad. "did you see what happened?" in my head i had no idea what was going on, were we at war? was the whole country under attack? and then i got dressed and drove to work.
on my way in to the office, the pentagon was hit. i listened to the radio gripping my steering wheel and staring at the seattle skyline. were we next? the columbia tower was in front of me as i crossed over the ship canal bridge. i couldn't help but be struck with fear. the unknown made me nervous. but what really kept going through my mind was, am i really going into work? is it really business as usual? and in typical american fashion, it was. i still put in my 8 hours that day. i may have surfed the internet more than normal, but i worked.
and i thought is was ridiculous. let us go home and be with our families. let us try and make sense of what was happening. but my responsibility that day was clearly to my employer. it felt very wrong. besides the sheer horror of the events of the day, that is what i remember the most. working.
the fall of 2001 made me feel more like an adult than i ever had before (i was 26 then). i experienced september 11th, a terrible break up and watching my uncle die of cancer. my view of life has never been the same. but after these 5 years the thing i have come to know the most is not to live in fear. will another attack happen? sadly, i think so. but will it control my actions and my belief that more of us in this world want peace than not? no.
we all have our own story. it is what still bonds us after 5 years.
6 Comments:
I will never forget where I was, what I was doing, and who told me about the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. I will also never forget the fear and helplessness I felt. Let there be peace in the world.
Thanks for posting this.
I felt the same way that day but haven't ever put it into words.
I watched it happen before leaving for work, teaching high school. I spent the entire day, actually, the week processing it with my students. It's a memory ingrained in my memory.
I've thought a lot about wanting to write down my story, but whenever I start, it still somehow seems too soon. I was in DC and my building was evacuated. I can remember what I wore, and the incredible fear that seemed to permate the entire city, and watching literally hundreds of people trying, trying to make phone calls and not being able to reach their family. I'd like try to get my entire story into words - so far, I can only write about it in peices.
All day (yesterday) I thought about writing something about this day in our history but I couldn't quite untangle my thoughts in a way that sounded quite right so instead I wrote about some superficial stuff (yarn) instead. I appreciate your courage and sharing your story. Thank you.
I was in my classroom between Literacy blocks when my para told me. I couldn't get out of the room until noon and ate my lunch in the library watching the news.
This year my Literacy students are 7 year old second graders. They were 1 1/2 years old when it happened. Almost their whole lives we have been in a war. And yet, they don't even know what is going on.
I hope to keep it that way.
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