Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning?
Posted by Kathleen
I had a whole rant prepared about my family vacation and blogging with strangers at Starbucks and the high price of an internet connection in paradise, but it’s September 11 and I just don’t have it in me to be funny today. And while I would swear I’m not maudlin, I nevertheless do have a tendency to get weepy and sentimental and sad at odd times and that’s how I’m feeling today, despite the wild and crazy family madness going on around me and the fact that it’s a beautiful, sunny day in Southern California and I’m on vacation, a vacation I really needed and am enjoying immensely.
But here it is, September 11, and five years later I still remember waking up and hearing the news, turning on the television and staring in disbelief as that huge plane crashed into the second tower. Just typing that sentence makes me shake. I remember calling my office to say I wasn’t coming in and being told that they’d closed my building and no one would be working that day because my office is in the twin towers in Century City and they feared an attack. I was three thousand miles away from New York City but I was terrified. We have friends in the City. We visit twice a year. Two months earlier, we’d had cocktails at the top of the WTC. I love New York. And the thing is, I stared at the horror on the screen and wished I was there.
And it still hurts.
My heart goes out to the people of New York City and all of us on the fifth anniversary of September 11, 2001. We will never forget.
posted by Kate Carlisle @ 9:36 AM
5 Comments:
Kate,
I'm with you. Today, the memories come crashing back. As writers, we all have editors and agents and friends who live in NYC and the personal worry was mixed in with the general fear and sorrow for what was happening.
Amy Fetzer called me very early that morning. Since she's on the East Coast, she was aware of all of this happening and I turned on the TV in time to see that second tower hit. It didn't feel real. It didn't seem as if it could be happening.
And I, like everyone else on this coast, felt helpless. For days, we sat in front of the television, feeling that somehow, if we turned it off, stopped watching, we were betraying those who were locked into the nightmare.
So no, we'll never forget. And today especially, our hearts and minds return to that awful morning when our world changed forever.
Kate, so true. It's a tough day,today, five years since.
And yes, Maureen. Helpless would be the word. I don't know anybody who could work that day. It was all just...too huge and horrible.
Our world did change. I don't think it will ever be the same again. Some...innocence was lost along with so many lives.
I almost feel as if I'm hurrying through this day to get it over with. I can never forget that day, of course, and it broke my heart because I knew my children's world had changed forever.
Living just an hour outside of Boston and knowing it all started here, makes every 9/11 hard to deal with.
I was at work with I heard about the first tower being hit. My first reaction is that it was some kind of horrific accident. Then the second tower. I remember when we heard about the Pentagon I thought...my god, is it ever going to end?
I guess I am still asking that same question, and there are no easy answers. This is a new world we live in now. For us, for our children and generations to come. Let's pray a peace can be found...someday.
I live about 1 hr from NYC.
I was on my way to work when the first tower was hit and like many did not realize we were under attack til the 2nd plane hit.
I was alone at work and the man came to deliver water and told me about the 2nd plane hitting. UP until that time, I thought it was a terrible accident. I turned on the radio and heard about the Pentagon and Pa.
I called my husband who was at home and asked him if he had the t.v. on - he was working in the dining room and did not have it on, so he knew nothing.
I will never forget this terrible day for our country. My heart goes out to all the family and friends who lost loved ones.
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