Where were you? Between 8:45 and 9:03…we (dh, ds#2 and myself) were standing outside taking photos to remember how happy we were…little did we know how much our world was changing. Our lives changed along with the world.
Tuesday, September 11, 2001 was a beautiful day. It was warm and the sky was as blue and clear as I can remember. DH and I were excited to be taking DS#2 to his first Doctors appointment that morning.
As we readied ourselves for the trip to the Dr., the morning news had a breaking story about a plane hitting one of the World Trade Center Twin Towers in NYC. We watched the photographs being telecast in awe and wonder at such a freak accident.
Before leaving for the Dr.’s office we took Baby outside on the front stoop to take some photos of him. He was so tiny and perfect. I felt so happy and good. All was right with the world.
Upon entering the examination room our Pediatrician walked in with tears in her eyes and said, “They have bombed the Pentagon!” We were in shock, and then learned that the plane we had seen hit the World Trade Center Tower wasn’t an accident and there had been a second plane to hit the other tower. In a few short minutes 3 planes became hurling, death machines for thousands of people. There was even more sadness to come as another plane was crashed in Pennsylvania as part of the same attack.
Our world was under attack. After leaving the Dr.s office I rode in back with my new baby and cried. Fear was there…fear for our country, our way of life, my new baby, my sweet other children…fear of the unknown. We had no idea where these attacks had come from or where they would hit next. There was fear and anxiety on what we should do next to prepare for what ever terrible turn came. DD and DS#1 were in school and we wondered if we should go in and get them from school.
The next few hours held little comfort as we watching in horror as the two landmarks of the western world fell with 1000s of people trapped inside. I was so scared and all we could do was pray.
It was the day that the world stopped turning…a day when we all stopped and stood still.
Little did I know that a year later I would find myself holding my precious 1 year old and commemorating the 9-11 attacks in our new home in NY. It was a surreal experience and yes, I took pictures. It was as if I wanted the photos to prove that this attack didn’t stop us or our great Nation. It may seem odd that I included the horrors of the 9-11 attacks in DS#2’s baby book but I need for my children never to forget and know that the world changed for them…that day.
Our church showed this preview for a documentary on the Crosses that rose from the 9-11 rubble and it was a wonderful reminder that God is right there and right here...in the center of it all. He knows, He remembers. Please take the 9 minutes to watch this and see His signs of hope...http://www.worshiphousemedia.com/index.cfm?hndl=details&tab=MM&id=5536
God Bless the U.S.A.
I remember too.
ReplyDeleteOh, I cannot imagine the feeling of watching all this through the eyes of a mother of a newborn. wow! Thanks for a great post!
ReplyDeleteWords can't express the amazing power of finding that cross under all that devastation. It's an awesome message. God remembers. He was there.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting the link.
Thanks for sharing your memories of that awful day in the history of our nation. Having a newborn would certainly make one wonder about the future for your precious child..
ReplyDeleteJust beautiful and just Belle-ah!
ReplyDeleteI can't picture anyone else writing this so eloquently.
Give a special hug to DS#2 for me today and I will give one to my DD#1 and THANK GOD that we still have them (and our other children and spouses).
Thanks for such amazing post!
(and I too remember!)
Thank you so much for sharing your memories. My youngest was almost 10 at the time. I remember of vulnerable they looked and how confused. God Bless!
ReplyDeleteoh how you must have felt that day Bellah with that new sweet baby of yours. Your story had me in tears. I think that it is important for you to pass it on for your children to remember. I hope and wonder if they will remember this 20 years from now.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link to the crosses film. I watched it and it was very good.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link to the crosses film. I watched it and it was very good.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter was a few months old, and yes, I remember that same fear...so new on planet Earth, and this is the welcome.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, life persists and insists on itself. To hold that hope in my arms...it's all that kept me going some days.
Beautiful post. Thank you for sharing.
This was so beautiful. And poignant.
ReplyDeleteI wrote about this day also...and I shared some of the same fears. I was actually expecting my second daughter...and was terrified the world was coming to an end.
Thank you for sharing your story!
Thanks for sharing this. I was eight months pregnant with DS on that day. I've just discovered your blog (through your comment - thanks!) and I enjoy your writing.
ReplyDeleteHi Belle-ah...just dropping in to say thanks for being a great friend to me!!!
ReplyDelete(((hugs)))
and I echo...God Bless the USA!!!
I remember the day well too Michelle. I was at work when my friend called to tell me what was happening, while we were on the phone the second plane hit. My mama was on her way to Somerset Pennsylvania that day on a senior bus tour. They had to detour them to another part of PA because they needed the hotel rooms for the government and news media people coming in after the plane went down.
ReplyDeleteI was also in NYC within two months after 9/11, the smell was awful near the site and there was still smoldering areas within the whole. That big piece of steel was still stinking out of the ground that was in many pictures. As you walked on the sidewalks down near Ground Zero you slipped on all the dust that coated everything. Its a day I'll never forget.
Great post Belle, very somber, but it's important that you did write down what you did and where you were.
ReplyDeleteI was at work, a paralegal, when the lady I work with got a call from her daughter. Then we all went on the computer and saw the live feed. My husband and I had gotten engaged and I seriously contemplated canceling the wedding. But he told me that we couldn't live in fear of what COULD happen. We just have to trust God with the days we are given. And we did...We got married May 25, 2002, and got pregnant before the year was over. Great post!
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