September 11, 2001
Spencer and I had been married for 4 years. We had a beautiful baby girl, named Mary Emma, and we were planning on celebrating her 4 month birthday that evening. I was a 3rd grade teacher at the local elementary school and we were having a normal day. We were in line at the restroom when another teacher came down the hall and told me that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. This teacher was FOREVER practical joking everyone on our hall, so I thought he was crying wolf. When his face didn't change, he looked at me and said told me to go see it on TV in the library while he stayed with my class. I sprinted to the library and found many teachers huddled around one TV, most of them crying. Then I saw the 1st Tower fall. I was terrified and wanted more than anything to be with Spencer and Mary Emma. My classroom faced the front parking lot and cars started swarming in and parents started checking out their kids, who were scared. As we all tried to go on with a normal day - for the sake of our students, we knew that there had become a new normal.
It was one of 2 days in my life that I, along with the rest of this country, will always remember where I was. The other was January 28, 1986, the day of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. I wasn't alive when Kennedy was assassinated and I was too young to remember Elvis.
Mary Emma hasn't asked about 9/11 yet. The other 2 are too young. Thankfully, they haven't experienced a life changing day like 9/11. By the grace and mercy of God, they will never have to.
I will never, ever forget.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Where Were You?
Posted by 3girlsmom at 4:52 PM
Labels: In all seriousness..
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I was in the 5th grade when Pres. Kennedy was killed. The Challenger tragedy caught me with a room full of first graders, totally confused. The OKC bombing I was at work about 3 hours away.
The other space tragedy and the 9-11 attack found me at home with a day off. Princess Diana's death came at the same time as my own dad's death. I, too, will never forget these things.
I was in the 5th grade when The Challenger exploded. I, too, was teaching school on 9/11 and will never forget trying to talk to another teacher in the hallway and she just looked at me and said, "Do you not know what has just happened?" I will remember it forever.
I was in a prayer meeting that the leaders went to before bible study and one of the other leaders cell phone kept ringing while we were trying to pray. She took the call because it was her husband and he would not quit calling.....She interrupted our praying with the awful news and we started praying in a different direction! I will never forget that morning!
I was sleeping my dorm in my first semester away at FSU. My roommate was in the shower across the hall, but the phone was right by my head so I answered it when her aunt called for her. I politely told her that Rachel was in the shower and could I take a message? And she told me that the United States was under attack. And that we were in danger as the capitol of the state of which the president's brother was governor. So then I was fully awake and I went downstairs to the common room and watched the news with the janitorial staff of my dorm.
Also, I will say that, since my uncle worked at the capitol, I called him freaking out. And he is THE BEST person to talk to in a tragedy because he is so calm. That's just a shout-out to D-dub.
Post a Comment