September 11, 2001. It was a breathtakingly beautiful blue sky day. I'm not one to usually take notice but, after dropping my kids off at their elementary school, there was just something about that clear morning that made me stop and take a deep breath of that fresh air. I was a little excited about my day. I had some plans that I was looking forward to so I stopped in at home to gather my things... and then my mom called.
I wasn't a morning TV watcher so she told me in a shaky voice to turn on the TV. I did and she and I experienced the news together. I called my husband. He hadn't heard. His office turned on their TVs. At home, I remember watching the live feed and seeing a sudden explosion in the second tower. The newcasters scrambled to understand it, then they realized that just before, a fleeting shadow behind the building was a second plane. Suddenly, all hopes that the first plane was an explainable freak accident were dashed. I'm sure I was still frozen in place when the towers fell. Horror replaced horror. Suddenly, I thought that I should go for my children. But as I stood in front of the office staff at the school, I had a change of heart. Although other parents were coming in and taking their children out, I realized that it might be better to let them have a normal day before addressing this catastrophe with them. The school was not going to make any announcements. They felt that was every parent's decision on how to go about it. I picked them up at the end of the day and then tried to explain the unexplainable. My 6-year-old, luckily, didn't grasp it enough to be scared. My 10-year-old wanted to sleep closer to us that night. He asked me if the fires in NYC could reach us in western NJ. The next day, we found out that four families in our town lost someone that day. So many towns in NJ suffered losses because we're a commuter state. So much heartache.
Now, it's been 10 years. I'm hoping to visit the new memorial soon. It's seems to have been constructed to be a very soothing, spiritual place. I'd like to say a little prayer for peace. I made the card below awhile back but it's so timely now. If everyone in the world could plant a seed of peace, imagine what would grow.
Tomorrow, I'll share a few more pages from my 30 Days of Lists.
Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)
I wasn't a morning TV watcher so she told me in a shaky voice to turn on the TV. I did and she and I experienced the news together. I called my husband. He hadn't heard. His office turned on their TVs. At home, I remember watching the live feed and seeing a sudden explosion in the second tower. The newcasters scrambled to understand it, then they realized that just before, a fleeting shadow behind the building was a second plane. Suddenly, all hopes that the first plane was an explainable freak accident were dashed. I'm sure I was still frozen in place when the towers fell. Horror replaced horror. Suddenly, I thought that I should go for my children. But as I stood in front of the office staff at the school, I had a change of heart. Although other parents were coming in and taking their children out, I realized that it might be better to let them have a normal day before addressing this catastrophe with them. The school was not going to make any announcements. They felt that was every parent's decision on how to go about it. I picked them up at the end of the day and then tried to explain the unexplainable. My 6-year-old, luckily, didn't grasp it enough to be scared. My 10-year-old wanted to sleep closer to us that night. He asked me if the fires in NYC could reach us in western NJ. The next day, we found out that four families in our town lost someone that day. So many towns in NJ suffered losses because we're a commuter state. So much heartache.
Now, it's been 10 years. I'm hoping to visit the new memorial soon. It's seems to have been constructed to be a very soothing, spiritual place. I'd like to say a little prayer for peace. I made the card below awhile back but it's so timely now. If everyone in the world could plant a seed of peace, imagine what would grow.
Tomorrow, I'll share a few more pages from my 30 Days of Lists.
Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)
2 comments:
Beautiful. Just beautiful.
Beautiful post, Cindy.
Post a Comment