Fifteen years ago today I was in Mapleton North Dakota. Adam was just eight days old. I was there to watch Adam while Jen taught a class. I think Andy dropped Noah off at daycare. Jen and I were having a quiet morning when the phone rang…it was Trica calling from Lombard Illinois ( a suburb of Chicago)….she said “turn on the TV.” So we did.
The horror on the East Coast unfolded before our eyes. I held Adam and wept because the world would be forever different for him and his brother. The day care provider called and said “I cannot watch children anymore today.” So we went to get Noah. Jen’s class was cancelled. I packed up and headed home, I needed gas and stopped at a gas station…a fellow there said “Use your charge card… you will never be charged.” Huh? I didn’t feel safe all the way home…I was on edge…what would happen next?
I worried about our granddaughters in Illinois. I worried about our grandsons in North Dakota. I prayed. I felt better once I returned home, safer, but still concerned.
We live in the boonies, I know my neighbors; I know where they work and I know their childrens names. In most cases I have known them since they were born or all my life. The closest thing to a terrorist in this neck of the woods would be a skunk.
No one should be able to make you afraid in your own home. I was uneasy for a long time. I don’t like crowds. If I am in a larger building I mentally inventory all the exits and where they are…a Movie Theater is probably one of the scariest places for me. ( Can I make it to the exit before I am trampled by these young kids who can move faster than me?)
Fifteen years later…do I feel safer? Yes. If I were a world traveler I probably wouldn’t feel safe, but as a hermit living a quiet life in the boonies…yes I do feel safer. But I will never forget the feelings on that day fifteen years ago.
Do you stand if you are able when the first flag passes you in a parade? Do you stand for the National Anthem? Lately it seems that some people don’t want to give our flag the honor it deserves. If you were born in the USA, or are a legal citizen stand up for our flag or leave. That’s all I am saying about that.
Yes, I stand. So, I'm happy to say, do my children and grandchildren AND they know the words and sing along.
ReplyDeleteI remember that day was the most beautiful fall day. I had just dropped my daughter off at school and turned the radio on for the ride home.
It's like the day the President was shot -- one you will never forget where you were at the moment you heard the news.
It was a terrible time for me. I was working and we were giving a presentation about our work to a panel from Washington, DC. We watched the whole thing unfold on a TV that someone had in her office. Those bigwigs from Washington could not get back home for weeks. I cried for days. It seemed longer ago than a mere fifteen years to me. :-(
ReplyDeleteYes, it does seem like a long time ago, DJan. We felt our fear so deeply then—it was the most extreme act of mass violence occurring on our continent within living memory. But humans are resilient. We went on with our lives.
ReplyDeleteWe were in England when we saw it on the news. We were stunned. Our daughter was living just outside Washington D.C. and it took a while to get a call through to her.
ReplyDeleteWe weren't due to leave from more than a week, but we called Delta and they said all flights were cancelled, but they'd put us on the first one they could.
We travel a lot and I am less trustful of everyone, not a good way to be.
I stand for the first flag in the parade because my WWII veteran dad taught me to do so. I stand for our national anthem with my hand over my heart. I know the words. Fifteen years ago, I drove halfway across the country to bring my mother home because all flights were grounded for days. At Interstate rest stops and gas stations, we watched chatted with others to find out how things were where they were coming from.
ReplyDeleteI was teaching in my 12th grade classroom when the high school secretary buzzed me and said "turn on the TV". I did as the 2nd plane hit the tower...
ReplyDeleteIt was a awful day I went and flew our Flag and got thumbs up
ReplyDeleteand horn beats from cars that were passing by.
We stand and pledge to
the Flag at Coffee and sing God bless America every Monday and Friday.
Also have prayer!
I may live in Thunder Bay, Ontario, but my U.S. flag (garden flag) has been out for the last week.
ReplyDeleteI will *never* forget.
I stand! And I stand with you on this post!!!
ReplyDeleteLinda
We are all changed because of that day. It was a dark day not just for our nations, but for the so-called peaceful Muslims who are now viewed with suspicion and distrust.
ReplyDeleteI was on my way to school when the news broke on the radio that the first tower had been hit. Surely it was an accident. . by the time I arrived at the school, It was determined it was no accident. I remember the horror of watching the TV in my classroom as the students filed in for class. Teachers were told to continue with classes - I wanted to be home. I live in the boonies, too, and what I remember most is how clear the skies were and how quiet it was the month following the attack - no contrails and no jetliners soaring overhead.
ReplyDeleteYes, fly the flag, stand for the flag and anthem - it shows respect for our country and those who serve and sacrifice.
i was at work when I heard the news on the radio. That day forever changed my life. I live in the city in a relatively safe neighborhood but I have become very uneasy when I'm in a crowd . Yes, I stand for the Flag and the National Anthem and fly my flag on holidays. I respect my Country and especially all those who serve/have served this great Nation.
ReplyDeleteI remember that day very well. We lived outside of DC in Northern Virginia. My Husband works in DC and had to travel over the Lincoln-Memorial Bridge into his office. He had been gone already about an hour when I turned on the TV. All of a sudden The News anchor that had been doing a story downtown switched up to the sky and the first plane hit the towers. I was in shock but in my mind , I said to myself that this was no accident. A few minutes more and the second plane hit. I was on my phone then trying to call my husband in his car. No answer! I kept calling to no avail, then the phones were all shut down. I finally got a hold of him at 4:00 that afternoon. He was still sitting on the bridge almost in to town. They shut down everything. He finally got home at 8:00 that night. No food or water all day. He now has supplies at all times in the cars. Our lives did change that day and soon after my Son at just 18 joined the Marines. He would have two tours in Iraq and be gone for five years of his life.We saw him only twice in all that time.He caught an Iraq spy on Base. He was supposed to get some kind of honor or medal but he said no to it. He told them it's just part of my job.I prayed day and night and he came home with 30% disability, but he came home and I thanked God!
ReplyDeleteSharon
Yes, we stand for the flag. It ticks me off when people do not honor our flag. I wondered if the idiot NFL player who is getting all the attention for sitting through the National anthem will not stand TODAY! I remember this day well. A very solemn day and weeks to follow!
ReplyDeleteWhile I understand the importance of outward displays of patriotism, and I do stand for the flag and the anthem and am respectful, I also understand not standing when you feel your country is not upholding "liberty and justice for all". We white folks have a lot to learn about what is like to really live in fear, and that fear has nothing to do with Islam.
ReplyDeleteIt never occurred to me to be fearful after 9/11. I was teaching elementary kids that day, no TV in the classrooms, and we did not even acknowledge what was going on to the young kids. By the time I got home I was exhausted from teaching- it was the first day reading instruction and I was in charge of the reading program as well as teaching the most struggling students - and exhausted from holding my emotions in check and not really knowing what was happening all day, that I just kept my feelings buried. Since I never had the opportunity to react that day, I really have continued to distance myself from it.
I live in a big international city, and I am in large crowds often. I do not fear.
I remember accidentally seeing the carnage. Ordinarily I don't watch TV but had it on that morning. It's an image I will never forget. I do feel safe.
ReplyDeleteMy husband was active duty Army at that time and we were living in Michigan. We lost a friend in the attack on the Pentagon. People have the right to protest but need to understand that there are those of us who have no respect for those who dishonor the American flag by failing to stand.
ReplyDeleteYes STAND! I think we all will remember where we were and what we were doing that day. I was in the doctors office and we were both shocked and tearful about what had happened....the whole town was quiet and glued to the television pondering how the world was changed forever.
ReplyDeleteYes, I stand.
ReplyDelete