On September 10th we adopted a beautiful white Lab and named her Zip. She was Noah's dog. I gave Noah permission to stay home with me on the 11th to take Zip to the groomer and play with her.
My mom called me early in the morning on the 11th and told me in a shocked voice to hurry and turn on the TV. In a horrified trance, Noah and I watched the towers burn and the debris fly through the air, over and over. When the people started jumping I came to my senses and sent Noah outside to play with Zip.
My first instinct was to run to the schools and get Gabe and Hannah. But the news announced to please not take the kids out of school. I didn't know that the middle school was under a real lock down. A man was testing the radio towers with a unit that looked like a gun. Someone called and reported it. Poor kids were watching live coverage and then suddenly the school was in lock down. The kids had to hide under their desks away from windows and doors. I was traumatized just hearing about it. How I wish I would have kept them all home that day.
Roland was in Portland, Oregon. I worried if he would ever make it home. It took several days for flights on the coast to operate.
All that day, whenever I heard an ambulance wail, I would tear up. In fact, that lasted several days.
Zip saved us all. Zip and the cabin. The kids came home, I kept the TV and radio off. We all went into the sunny backyard and played with Zip. Roland drove home from Portland. 9/11 was every place. I was frightened and the kids were stressed. So we loaded up the big blue suburban (I miss that gas guzzler) and went to the cabin for a week. Took the kids out of school and had a vacation. The river was perfect, we played with Zip non-stop. No news, no radio reports. The world could have ended and we would have been fine.
The media never shows video or pictures of that day. I never need to see the pictures, they are embedded in my brain. But I think it is a mistake to not show the younger generations what happened.
I will always remember, I'm sure you will too.
8 comments:
How nice to have a refuge to escape the madness. We will always remember.
Robin, i was in Portland Oregon area too that day. Something i remember the most is how Quiet the world was. No airplanes, no air traffic at all... it just seemed like the world was holding its breath. I was bracing for my divorce to be finalized, and learning to be a single mom to raise 2 babies by myself. I remember thinking that i didn't want to let them off my lap... ever! In the weeks that followed, i remember feelings of great pride for my country. red whit and blue were flying everywhere. It was finally feeling, at least for a little while, that we were standing Together and as one as a country. I wish that reality would have stood stronger for longer...
i will never forget.
Lee was at school in NYC that day and I will never forget the terror I felt as I turned on the TV, not knowing that anything was going on, and saw the towers burning and read the caption that said "NEW YORK CITY UNDER ATTACK". I was shaking as I dialed Lee's cell phone over and over with no success. As I was able to sort through the news on the TV and realize that Lee was most likely fine, my instant relief was replaced by the empathy and pain for the families, who unlike me, were finding their worst fears realized. That night when we were all finally reunited I just wanted to hold on tight to all my family members and never leave our little home again. I hope that we can all remember how lucky we are to live in this country! What a blessing it is that terror like that isn't part of our daily lives!
hooray for Zip. thanks for stopping by. I enjoyed your post, too. And that family portrait? Stunning!
We had just moved to Iceland 10 days before and had no TV. My neighbor came over and got me and we went and watched at her house. Steve had to be at work and couldn't come home because all the military was on high alert. I made tons of soup and rolls for the guys that work for him so they would have something to eat. The whole base was locked down. One thing about living out of the country is a pride to be an American, a pride to say the pledge of allegiance, a pride in the flag and all it stands for. How could any of us forget?
I remember talking to you that day and you said that Zip was so comforting and you were so deeply grateful that you had her. Isn't it amazing how the joy and innocence of a playful doggie can be so therapeutic?
I agree with Jodi, I remember how silent everything was. Many people just stayed in for a few days and there was no air traffic. It was quiet.
I also remember the silence of the day. I was in school and pregnant with Kaylee. I remember all of my class just staring at the TVs not believing what we were seeing. I remember being so nervous and scared. But I remember for days, how Warren and I would just talk. Almost paralyzed by it all. On thursday, Kaylee was wondering why the flags were at half mass. I explained it to her and than later that day at the Y, our instructor let us have 5 minutes at the end of class to just sit, reflect, and pray. It was a wonderful moment to reflect on that day. I will never ever forget.
Thanks for sharing that Robin. It was life altering wasn't it? Our kids were babies, it must have been difficult to try to comfort older kids, while not really knowing what had happened!
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