What isn't there, in that long-ago journal (click blog title to view), is why the words ran out . . . A plane went down somewhere near Pittsburgh. My daughter's home is in the Pittsburgh flight path . . . My cell phone was in the car . . .
When I called, my son-in-law answered. My daughter was on a plane that morning . . . thankfully in the Atlanta airport between connections when the world as we know it stopped. The evening before, my son-in-law had watched, from the Newark airport, lightning backdrop the Twin Towers . . .
The crew and passengers of UAF93 have a very special place in my heart . . .
15 comments:
I was teaching at Irmo Middle School. My homeroom was taking a standardized test. As I gathered up the materials to cart them to Guidance to turn in I was alerted by Dr. John Galloway and Mrs. Kathy Fuller - "Hey come look at this." Mrs. Fuller (my neighbor across the hall with no homeroom to test) had her TV on. I saw the aftermath of the first plane hitting the twin towers. I ran back to the my room and told the students of this accident unfolding in NY. As I tuned in my TV to the local station - we witnessed the 2nd plane hit the other tower. I could not wrap my mind around what I was seeing...certainly it was unusaul for two accidents? How could that happen? Was there another control tower opperator strike? Terrorism was NOT my first thought. When the realization dawned on me (probably thanks to an announcer/reporter on the TV)that we were witnessing deliberate acts, I had to shut off the TV - I was in shock not and did not realize how my reactions and the graphic nature of the incident were affecting my 7th grade students. One child was upset because he didn't realize NY wasn't next door. He wanted to take cover immediately. I gained a greater understanding of student perception (or misperception). We even had parents demanding the release of their children and that the school's close ... I guess they were afraid a terrorist attack would happen here too. I guess in the back of my mind I was afraid of that too because all I wanted was to hold my children. I felt this desparate need to touch them. Like after Columbine my world changed again. I felt unsafe, only wanted to be with my family. The world tilted as the towers fell. The citizens of the United States came together as I have never witnessed before or since. I was saddened by the needless senseless loss of life but proud of how our country came together in the true American spirit. Wendy Morris
I'm with Wendy on this one- I just wanted to hold my daughter. We lived on property that adjoined an air force base; I was terrified that it could be a potential target. Since she was only 16 months old, she has no recollection of it. My son, who's in kindergarten now, wasn't even born until a year later, so he's ALWAYS lived in a post 9/11 world. That makes me sad for them. -Tara Ash
I was teaching at Irmo Middle School. I didn't find out until later in the day what was going on because of how busy I was that day. I remember being in disbelief and trying to control the anger that was rising up in myself. I remember spending the next two days glue to the tv in some type of media shock. Very sad time for our country.
Tim Brougher
I was at my neighbor's house selling school fundraiser for my children. She is a retired teacher. She had the news on her TV, it didn't seem serious at first, then when I realized what had happened, I wanted to go to the school to be with my children.
wanted to be with my children when I found out.
Robin Bishop
I was teaching Elementary Physical Education at Wren Elementary in Piedmont S.C. We found out that morning and we actually watched the second plane hit the second tower. I had visited New York a couple of months earlier which really brought the tragedy to the forefront.
Dale Whitson
This is definitely a day I will never forget. On the morning September 11, 2001 I was sitting in the waiting room of my OBGYN's office. We watched live as the second plane ran into the second tower. I remember being more worried about the event I had witnessed than I was about my weight that day. (I was 8 1/2 months pregnant.) As I was driving back down the interstated coming back to CMS, the Pentagon was hit.
These are images and sounds I can never forget.
Kathy
I was teaching Physical Education at Leaphart Elementary School. It made me want to re-enlist in the Army.
Mike
I was meeting Dr. Bollman and Jane
Crawford. His secretary came in and shared that a parent had called to tell us that the World Trade Center had been hit. We turned on the TV to discover that it was worse than we had expected.
This was such a tragedy and a great loss to innocent people.
Sandra Brant
I was in college. A senior. I came home from a class, and my boyfriend was on my couch with his eyes glued to the TV. I thought he was watching a movie--some kind of Bruce Willis Die Hard film. It was the news. It was our country. The Twin Towers smoking and tumbling into a pile of debris. I sat down and I remember being terrified--afraid of what this might mean. War? More attacks in other states? Were they attacking all capitals? Was Columbia actually in danger? This train of thought wasn't perhaps logical, but it was born from fear and of the knowledge that someone hated America enough to attack innocent people in a prominent place of business. Someone hated us enough to attack us. Our peaceful, safe country wasn't peaceful or safe anymore.
My husband and I were home with my 11 month old baby girl, who was sick that day watching the events unfold on television.
I was home getting ready to go to work.
Amanda
I was teaching at Chapin Middle. My class had just taken a state mandated standardized test. We were finished and I was anxious to fill the time until we could leave. Dede, a teacher across the hall, sent a kid over to tell me to turn on the TV, the twin towers had been hit by a plane. I remember thinking the pilot must be blind to run into those huge towers. I'm certain I vocalized this as I am chronically infected with foot in mouth disease. One student, obviously more astuste than his teacher, said outloud,..."Hey Ms. Ray wonder if it wasn't an accident". At that moment the second plane hit the second tower, you could hear a pin drop in the room as the truth of that child's words hit us all. I attend church with that college student today. I'll forever be connected to him, not just because he was a joy to teach, but because he opened my eyes to a truth I couldn't imagine in 2001.
Lisa
I was teaching Sixth Grade Social Studies at Georgetown Middle School in Georgetown, SC. We had just moved in to a new school building and had not been hooked up to cable. We heard all about the planes crashing via district email, but we could not access the internet to see pictures. We were not allowed to talk to our students about these incidents at all. We were instructed to keep mum and let the parents talk to the children when they got home. All the kids knew something was going on because so many parents came to pick up their children from school. I did not get a visual of the attacks until I arrived home at 5:30 that night to watch the news. I was so impressed by the number of people who expressed the need for prayer. I have continued to appreciate the rise of patriotism in this country. We are truly blessed. God bless America!
Kay Sloan
I was at Chapin High School where I was working as Associate Principal. I was walking down the hall when someone told me that a plane had flown into the WTC. I went into Scott Harmon's resource room and said "Turn on your TV." He, his students, and I watched together for a few minutes. Then I went into the office where everyone was gathered around a TV. We watched as the first and then the second tower collapsed. One of our teachers said "The world as we knew it just ended." She was right.
I remember the following few days as being eerily silent as I worked in my garden. I didn't realize how accustomed we had become to the background sound of planes. When the planes started to fly again I would for months glance up, remembering 9-11-01. Linda
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