It was about this time six years ago that my husband called me from work to tell me to turn on the TV. My mom was visiting. We turned on the TV just in time to see the second airplane hit the World Trade Center. Even though we were sucked into the news, we tried for our boys' comfort to carry on like normal. My older son was already at school. My younger son went on to Mother's Day Out. We ran a few errands feeling uncomfortable at Macy's where the mall was closed and the store had extra security guards.
We were trying to protect our children. They did not need to be scared. My older son got in the car after school, he immediately noticed the car dealer's flag was at half-staff. He wanted to know why. I know it has been 6 years, but there are still lots of why questions. My younger son doesn't remember too much about that day. When we try to explain, we still struggle with the whys.
I am the youngest of six. Normally, I get updates on my siblings via my mom. I occassionally talk to one of my brothers or sisters. On that September 11th, I talked to all of my brothers and sisters - all in one day. My mom had flown down to visit. Given the grounding of all the planes, flying home was not an option for her. So, they all called checking in on mom. We, as a family, were rallying together. Our task was miniscule compared to what other famlies were going through. We did get her home by car. My brother met us half way.
My husband and I went to NYC just a couple weeks later. Our trip had been planned for months to celebrate his birthday. I lost lots of sleep wondering if we should really go. We decided to show our support and go. We stayed near the UN. Our hotel had very few tourists. Most were Red Cross there helping out. A friend of ours took us down to ground zero. I will never forget the smell, the ash, the horror. I did not want to stop. I just wanted to keep walking to get out of there. That weekend, President Bush declared war. I yearned to be back home with my children.
We have been back to NYC since then. The city has moved forward. It is an amazing place. The Statue of Liberty or "that girl out in the water" as my youngest son called her, says it all. We are grateful for our freedoms.
My simple prayer for today is for peace throughout the land.
1 comment:
I didn't realize that you were there so soon afterwards! I had just dropped off my kids at preschool and came home, turned on the tv (which I never did) and saw the plane as it was flying into the second building. Our kids were too young to explain this to, but Caroline remembers drawing a picture of those twin towers on fire (it was impossible to keep them from seeing the images.) As I drove to pick them up at noon, I think I cried the whole way there... I kept looking at other people, wondering what we were all in store for, next. Especially after the plane went down in PA! We had one friend whose sales territory was NYC and he had just driven into the city that morning. Luckily he never made it into that area and came home safely. My parents were stuck in Baltimore, on their way home from vacation too! Sorry this is long... will we ever get over this? Probably not, and maybe we shouldn't.
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