Where were you - 9/11/01?
I was sitting at my desk at Bennett Christiansen Academy, where I worked as the Assistant to the Director. My husband called to tell me about the first hit on the World Trade Center. I immediately turned on my radio. Moments later my boss (and dear friend) came rushing to the front office, and got on the computer. Just a few minutes later, my husband called again...the second plane had hit!
We sat dazed, not believing what we were seeing and hearing. Ted (the Director) stayed at my desk, and I quietly went, from classroom to classroom, to tell the teachers what was going on. We were notified by the school board, that we should expect phone calls from panicked parents, and that we should be ready to release our students as their parents arrived.
The phone "rang off the hook"!
The parents began to show up, looking dazed and bewildered.
The news kept reporting more and more tragedies...the pentagon...the hijacked airliner.
It was so surreal. This couldn't be happening. A terrorist attack?
This was the USA for crying out loud. The strongest, most powerful nation on earth.
When would it stop? How many more people would die...today, and in the days to come?
So many innocent people.
The victims, their families and friends.
The rescue personnel, and their families and friends.
I vacillated between the emotions of grief, horror, and disbelief.
Ted headed across the parking lot, to the medical offices on the grounds of the school.
One of the chiropractors had a TV in his waiting room.
Many of the children left, but we tried to keep things
as normal as possible for the remaining students.
Lunch, free time, fun activities.
We had to keep fending off questions
about why so many of the boys and girls had gone home.
I will say, that something good came out of this awful situation...
...the citizens of this country banded together, and stood firm.
Blood donations...volunteer rescue groups.
Doctors, nurses...meals, hugs, money and prayers.
Unceasing prayers in homes, offices, churches.
Flags hung in every store, and in most homes - on flagpoles, in windows, on walls.
We stood united.
But how long did this camaraderie last? When did our memories begin to fade? How could we so easily slide into a "comfort zone"? Do we only remember on the anniversary date each year?
We do not need to live in a state of fear...but we do need to remember.
We need to remember those who died.
We need to remember, and stand behind, the men and women
who continue to put their lives on the line
(Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force Coast Guard, Police Officers,
Fire Fighters, Rescue Units, etc. etc.)
to protect us, and this great country we are so blessed to live in.
We need to remember, and...
...We Must NEVER FORGET!
