It was a day like any other. I woke up and went down to my chilly basement office. Around 9 am my phone rang. It was my mother sounding very stressed saying turn on the news, a plane had hit a building in New York.
I calmly told her I had the radio on and nothing was being said so it couldn’t be that big of a deal. She was pretty insistent, so I told her that I would go upstairs shortly and check it out.
I finished up what I was doing and walked upstairs. The first channel that came on was discussing the World Trade Center. As I stood there watching, I saw the tape of the second plane come in.
Like everyone in the world my mouth dropped open and my heart began to pound.
I quickly called my husband who was out making sales calls. Just as my mother was unable to relay to me the urgency, I was unable to get it across to him.
My next call was to each of our girls, one an hour away and the other four hours away in Cleveland. It wasn’t until I phoned each of them that a plane had hit the Pentagon, did I get each of their attention.
I went to spend time with my mother and Randy, the girls and I spent the first of many days on the phone.
Several years later while visiting New York, as many tourist do, we made one of our must-see stops, Ground Zero.
The chilling realization of what happened that day is a feeling like no other. While it was terrifying watching the events unfold on tv, until we visited the actual site and visualized what occurred there, I had no true comprehension.
We are fortunate that a beam from the World Trade Center has been sent to Eastern Michigan University where a September 11th memorial is being built as well.
EMU is not far from us and when we visited last Sunday, all the feelings came rushing back. While it was difficult to see, I believe it is necessary to keep it fresh in everyone’s mind.
As I learned in school, “that those who do not learn from history, are bound to repeat it.”
I was thrilled to learn that throughout eastern Michigan on September 11th at 9:11 p.m., people are being urged to remember the events of the day 10 years ago by floating sky lanterns.
During this time all CBS Detroit radio stations will air “God Bless America.” There will also be special ceremonies at Lake Erie and Metro Beach Metro Parks as well. CBS Radio will kick-off the event at 7 pm with family friendly activities, color guards, bands, and additional activities prior to the 9:11 lantern lighting.
The lanterns can be purchased at all Chevy dealers and Art Van Furniture for $5. Ten thousands lanterns will be distributed.
All proceeds are going to the Salvation Army who was the first relief organization on the scene at Ground Zero where they provided extensive support for volunteers and relief workers.
What better way to honor those who died and to let the terrorists know we will never forget.
Let’s make it a national event!
I don’t think anyone will forget where they were on that day. I was on my way to work when my cousin called. At first we both thought it was an accident that a small plane had hit. When I got to work they had pulled a TV from a conference room and put in the reception area. All the staff was crowded around watching. I lived in Chicago and did home care. They thought Chicago might also be a target so the owner said he didn’t want anyone out driving so everyone was to cancel their appointments for the day and go home but leave our phones on in case there was an emergency.
On my drive home I looked to my right and I could see the Chicago Skyline and could pick out the Sears Tower and Hancock Buildings. It was such an eerie drive thinking they could be the next targets of an attack.
I live about 30 minutes from the Pentagon…my ex was on his way into work that morning with his windows down. The feelings he had on his way home I cannot even begin to understand. It is truly an event that we must ensure does not get repeated. It was such a tragedy.
WM
Beautiful post Tesa, I don’t think I can ever forget that day it is burned into my memory bank.