Today we solemnly commemorate one of the most horrific days in American history, a day that has become known simply as 9-11.
Sixteen years ago today, our son had been called home from college in Iowa to speak at the funeral of a high school friend who’d died tragically in a car accident on September 9. Trey was sleeping in the family room, when my husband rushed home from work in the middle of that Tuesday morning hollering, “Turn on the TV!” We woke Trey up, and we all watched in horror as the towers fell. It seemed the world as we knew it had ended, and yet I couldn’t help but think that for our friends, the world as they knew it had ended two days earlier with the death of their precious son. We all drew closer as a family that week, as a church, and as a nation. We clung to God harder than we ever had in the days that followed. Sixteen years later, we’re still clinging.
Our president has proclaimed this day, once again, to be celebrated as Patriot Day.
We will be flying the flag at our house and remembering what that day meant for our family, our nation, and our world. What about you? Where were you that day? It seems to be one of those things we all remember.
Where were you when you heard the news on September 11, 2001. I’d love to hear your story in the comments.
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At that time I lived in WI and was in WV visiting my parents. I was in the bathroom fixing my hair to fly back that morning when my dad started screaming. I ran to see what was wrong. It took a week for me to get a flight rescheduled.
It amazes me how specific our memories are. That you even remember that you were fixing your hair, something you do daily, proves what a monumental moment it was in our history. Kind of like remembering where we were when we heard President Kennedy had been assassinated. (For those old enough to remember, that is.)
We lived near Chicago at the time and the city closed down. I remember how eerily quiet everything was with all the airplanes grounded.
I never thought about how much more noticeable that would have been in a city than in the little airport-less town where we lived at the time.
I was at church at a ladies’ Bible study when the pastor came in and announced the news to us about the planes flying into the twin towers. We all stopped and prayed at that moment.
I’m guessing there hadn’t been as many Americans all praying as one since maybe Pearl Harbor? What a comfort prayer is in times like that. Many praying today, I know, for loved ones in the path of Irma and José.
I was cleaning behind contractors that morning in our new house still under construction when the painter arrived and said “did you hear what happened”. We were living in our 5th wheel 35 min. away and I was running back and forth handling construction chores with poor cell service. The excitement of a new house turned to sadness and no longer seemed important. As soon as I could get to our wheeled home parked in our pastor’s backyard I turned on our little tv and watched the news coverage in shock.
Our flag is always flying.
I remember that feeling, too, Daphne, of things that once seemed so important, suddenly feeling frivolous and not worth concern.
Jerry was getting ready to leave for work, and as I came downstairs, my mom was watching TV in her room and shouted, “Robin!” The first tower had just been hit, and they were still thinking it was a small plane and an accident. Jerry and I watched in her room for a while, then he left for work and I moved to the TV in the family room and stayed glued there throughout that horrible morning.
I remember how comforting it was to have family there to watch it all unfold with…and yet how worried we were for the family members who WEREN’T there, not knowing what might be yet to come.
I was in my h.s. classroom, teaching Spanish. We sat, eyes glued to the t.v. screen in disbelief.
My heart went out to people who were in positions of authority that day…especially, those like you who had to try to explain what was happening and to comfort those who were fearful or even hysterical.
I was in Seoul, South Korea attention a CHRISTIAN book fair. A colleague woke me after I had just fallen asleep (due to time difference) with the news. Several of us from the US gathered to watch CNN and pray. The Korean publishers who hosted us were a wonderful support. We were delayed in our return a few days due to the flight stoppage.
It must have been frightening and frustrating to be out of the country when that happened. But how wonderful that your host country was so supportive. Just another way God worked to bring good out of even horrific events.
I was teaching my 5th graders when an administrator opened my door and motioned me into the hallway. When the 8 teachers on our hall were gathered, she told us what had happened and asked us to make sure no televisions were used that day. We were also told to be prepared for parents to come and get their children, and again not to let on to our other students what had happened or why children were leaving. I live in Virginia Beach, and my school served a large military community. Not to say this didn’t happen elsewhere, but the parents did come and grabbed their children – over half my class left.
The patriotism that arose from this tragedy was amazing, and I pray this country can get it back.
Yes, it was amazing to watch the country come together (we’ve heard reports of the same happening in Houston after the hurricane and flooding there). But sadly, it shows our humanness that the unity was so short-lived. 🙁
I can remember that day clearly. I was just going about my daily house hold chores when I was interrupted by a phone call . It was my husband calling from work telling me to turn on the tv because we were under attack. Who is attacking us I wondered as I quickly turned on the tv and watched the Twin Towers burn. I don’t think that I will ever forget where I was or what I was doing that horrible day.
I agree. It’s one of those things seared in our memories. But also seared there is the overwhelming knowledge that God hadn’t changed, that he had His hand on his children.
I was a stay-at-home mom to my oldest (who was just 9 months at that time). I’d taken her to our neighborhood park to push her on the swings for a bit, then returned home. I clicked on the Today Show as I was straightening up my house and realized instantly that something was wrong. At that point, the first plane had hit and the Today show anchors were trying to get information as to what had happened. I watched, aghast, as the rest of it unfolded live. I’ll never, never forget.
And that’s a good thing: that we never, never forget.
I was in a drafting class in college. It was a long, 3 hour, class and during our break, one of our classmates must have gotten a call from her mom. We ended up dismissing class early and I was back in my dorm. At that time, I had no idea what everything meant, terrorists, etc.
I was so thankful our youngest son was home from college (even though the reason was so sad). But I felt for kids who were away at college.
I was at home doing my schoolwork. I was only 6 at the time, and as I heard about what had happened and all the lives that were lost, I asked my mom where all the people who had died went. It was on 9-11 that I accepted Christ’s salvation, and as I mourn all the lost lives, I continue to pray that the family of those lost will accept Christ’s salvation as well.
Oh, Kim! That is an incredible testimony! Wow! Again, how wonderful that you responded in that way and have continued to pray for the lost. Beautiful!
I’d had an early morning class and then afterwards headed straight to the daily mandatory chapel service. I noticed something was wrong because everyone was crowding into the student center instead of flowing toward the chapel building. Eventually there was a big announcement for everyone to get to chapel and they announced everything that was known so far. Then instead of normal chapel, it became a big prayer service – classes were canceled for the day. Most of us stayed praying for hours.
I know things like that happened all over the country, but it’s such a blessing to hear specific instances where this happened. What a gift prayer is!
I was working on Capitol Hill that day, at a nonprofit. The day is really clear to me still, and it took about ten years for the annivesary of 9-11 not to affect me physically. We could see the Pentagon burning from the roof of our office building. There was ash from the Pentagon floating in the air outside my home for days. I still remember mowing the lawn, pushing through ash, trying not to think about what it represented–and failing. To get to work, my commute was a bus ride to the Pentagon where I caught the metro into D.C. Some of my fellow commuters, who I saw on the bus every morning, I never saw again after 9-11. A man who attended my church was standing three car lengths from where the plane crashed into the Pentagon, and was burned horribly–but survived.
Weeping lasted for a night, a night which seemed very long. But joy did come in the morning.
That is such a chilling account, Jocelyn! You give away what a wonderful writer you are with your vivid description of the events! So thankful for His joy that no circumstances can take away.
Absolutely. God is bigger than any act of terrorism, brighter than any darkness. What a comfort that He himself is our hope.
I was at work and the librarian at school kept us all informed by sending messages as the towers fell.
At breakfast we watched the news in shock as the planes hit the towers one at a time with all kinds of speculation about what this meant.Accident or attack.
Truely a sad and confusing day.
It was. May it never be repeated. That, I think, is one of the good things that comes from remembering.
i was driving to work that morning listening to a audiobook about Judy Garland, and had just got to the part where she was discribling how she felt when President Kennedy was shot when I pulled into the parking lot at work. I noticed that my boss was walking around outside kind of in a daze. As I went to her she was saying “I don’t know if I would go” (she was to drive down to Springfield that day). When I asked her what she meant she told me about what happened. Then we walked into the building together just as the second tower was hit. My boss never went to Springfield that day.
That is such a fascinating juxtaposition, Beth! Even though I was only 8 years old when Kennedy was assassinated, I remember it SO vividly.
I was winding up a professional (medical) meeting in Denver. I’ve detailed it all here (http://bit.ly/2gXsRaz). Thanks for the reminder. Let us never forget!
I was watching the Today Show and the coverage of the first plane hitting the tower. Speculation was rampant over it being an accident or otherwise. I saw the second plane hit live and then there was no doubt it was on purpose!
We had just dropped our daughter off for her freshman year at Univ of So Ala in Mobile, five hours from us and I was worried about the ports there and what may happen.
Oh wow, Gail! How scary it would have been to have just dropped your precious child off far from home. It seems almost everyone had at least one family member far away, or worse, in harm’s way.
I was up with an early-rising toddler and happened to turn on the news just before the second plane hit. Right after that happened, I went and woke my husband. I had a friend who was flying in for Germany for a visit. We’d planned to take her up through the San Juan Islands into Canada. Her plane got re-routed to Canada and she got stuck there. She eventually was able to travel to her folks’ home in Minnesota. The rest of our trip had to be canceled because there was no traveling to Canada without passports. Obviously, that was a minor problem in comparison to everything else, but it reminds me how everything changed that day in terms of travel.
My eldest brother lives in Brooklyn and worked in Manhattan. He rode a ferry and the subway to work each day. His subway usually went right under the towers, but they had closed due to the fire (first plane) and put everyone off, so he started walking. He heard the second plane low overhead and glanced up just in time to see it strike the tower. He turned and ran all the way back to the ferry dock and headed straight back to Brooklyn.
Oh wow, Karen! How scary for your brother and your friend!
I was in upstate New York wondering where both of my daughters were that went to college in NYC at the time. One worked just a few blocks away and had to walk with coworkers all the way up to upper Manhattan. The other had just gone through the subway station below the WTC and came out of the subway in mid-Manhattan to see the smoke, etc. It was the worse day of my life not knowing, and we didn’t know they were both safe until late that afternoon!
How terrifying, Kathleen! Thanks for sharing your story.
I was a senior at OU in Norman. I had the TV on and saw that a plane had hit one of the towers, but my mom called about something completely unrelated, so I turned the TV off for that three-minute conversation. During those three minutes, the second plane hit; I’m pretty glad I didn’t see it live. I knew something big was going on, but being the responsibility champion that I am, I was all, “Well, whatever, gotta go to class.”
Except, of course, there was no class, so all we did was wander around campus, dazed, watching news coverage in the student union. That night was my second-ever professional orchestra rehearsal (I had just won a spot with the OKC Philharmonic the week before), and we still met, which surprised all of us. But that weekend’s program was Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, and our conductor explained that if it had been any other piece, the concert would have been cancelled. “But it’s the Ninth,” he said. “So we play.” The soloists who were originally scheduled were all NYC-based and obviously couldn’t get there, so the orchestra found some last-minute replacements (from the DFW area, I believe) and we had the concert. Definitely one of the top-5 most powerful musical experiences I’ve ever had a part of.
Music is healing, isn’t it!? And that makes me smile to read “But it’s the Ninth…so we play.” That could be a metaphor for so much of life!
I slept through the first plane. My (now) husband called and told me to turn on the news. I will never forget watching it all unfold that day and praying unceasingly for everyone involved.
Unceasing prayers. What a blessing.
I had just dropped off grandkids at school and stopped at WalMart for a few things. I noticed people clustered around the TVs that were for sale there. Went to go see what had their attention and was horrified by what I saw! Quickly went home and was glued to the TV the rest of the day. What an unsettling day–and it happened to be our oldest granddaughter’s birthday! So we will never forget!
I know several people with Sept. 11 birthdays and I always wonder how they feel having their day immortalized by such a somber occasion.
I was working for my friend who was a photographer taking school pictures. Three of us decided to go into Canada (we live on the border) for lunch. At the time we didn’t think of the international ramifications of what had happened earlier in the day. While at Pizza Hut the news reports started talking about closing the borders. We needed to get back to the US. The line up to cross was already getting long and delayed. My friend and other worker had to get back to school by 1:00 so they walked across the bridge leaving me with her new vehicle. I had so many thoughts going through my head. What will I do if I can’t get home? And I really needed to go to the bathroom!! I was so thankful when I made it halfway across the bridge where there is a sign the points one way to the US and the other to Canada. Then I got to customs.
“Open the hood.”
“Um, I’m not sure how. It’s not my vehicle.”
“What do you mean it’s not your’s? Whose is it?”
Well, I finally got through. I was thankful the custom officers were doing their job but I sure felt like kissing the ground.
Oh, Ann! I can’t even imagine! I’m sure you were so grateful to get home!
9-11 is a very sad day for our family personally, because it marks the beginning of a long battle with severe PTSD for our son. He was a military responder at Ground Zero who helped search through the rubble for body parts to identify. He had just turned 20, and had his whole life ahead of him. He came back changed, but that wasn’t the end of it. He then did an 18 month tour in Iraq that caused even more trauma. He has struggled unsuccessfully to try and live a normal life ever since. He finally agreed to get help about 2 years ago, and has been in and out of treatment since then without making significant progress. He is headed next month for a program in San Diego that we are hopeful will make a difference. I feel this is a legacy left by this attack that really has been forgotten by many. Besides all those lives that were lost, there are many that have lost their lives in other ways…
Oh, Linda. I am so sorry. And you make such a good point. We need to remember that for some people it truly did change life, very personally, in ways that are still waiting to be resolved. Praying that your son finds the help he needs and that you may someday look back at this step as the one that finally made a difference. I’m so sorry for all you’ve lost, and I pray that God will restore your son to you.
In Olathe my wife and I had our suitcases in hand ready to leave to our daughter’s family in Germany when my mother called with instructions to turn TV. We saw the second plane crash a twin tower.
We had to wait 10 days to get a rescheduled flight to Frankfurt. The sympathy shown by the Germans was obvious. Momentos were left in the wire fence around the Giessen US Army base. A lone convenience store clerk who only spoke German somehow communicated to me that she was sorry about the attack and that she was glad to be a believer in Jesus. Unforgettable
I had never heard that story, Charlie. It blesses me, especially since our oldest son lived in Berlin for 5 years, to know that you met believers there, and that there was such compassion for what we were going through at the time. Thanks for sharing that.