Sunday, September 11, 2005



Do You Remember?



Do you remember where you were that day four years ago? I remember. I remember our administrators calling us all into the gym, telling us that a plane had hit one of the towers. And then another plane hit another tower. And we all sat there not comprehending until we knew, knew that America was under attack.

Do you remember what happened that day? I remember we sat in our English teacher's room, lessons forgotten, and watched the towers fall, never taking our eyes off the horror on the screen. I remember girls crying together in the halls. I remember going from room to room, huddle to huddle, praying in small groups and wondering what would the next minute, the next hour bring?

Do you remember the fear? I remember being so scared for my grandparents, mere miles from one of the biggest military bases on the East Coast. They wouldn't care about South Carolina, we would be safe. Unless they hit the Savannah River Site. Or our sleepy little capital. But they wouldn't do that, would they? But nobody knew. Nobody knew where they might go next.

Do you remember the questions? "Will the towers fall?" "Will the President be safe?" "Will they attack again?" "And when they do, where will it be?" "Did they choose 9/11 on purpose, a cruel play on our emergency system?" "How many are dead, and how many more will follow?" "How could this have happened? This wasn't supposed to happen."

Do you remember the patriotism? The flag the seniors painted on the front doors and windows- for Homecoming, that stayed till after Christmas. The outpouring of blood, so much that the Red Cross couldn't use it all. And God Bless America, everywhere God Bless America as people searched for answers.

Do you remember the impact? For everyone, it was personal. They did this to every one of us. Nothing else seemed to matter that day. And for a day, partisanship didn't matter as all of America united in their grief. And we stood strong together, strong in our mission to help the survivors, try to stop the pain, and strong to get those who did this to us. For we are America, and on that day, we were one.

Will you ever forget?

11 Comments:

At 9/11/2005 01:23:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Bravo Nettie!

We just played a video that had a slide show of the attack. I cried when they played Amazing Grace.

I had the honor of being a volunteer at Freshkills in Staten Island, March 02 to assist with the recovery. We sifted rubble and remains. We also spent a day at Ground Zero and got the chance to see the LEO platform and to read the letters to the missing. It still moves me.

Ultimately, it was the strength of those around me that showed me that we are a great country.

God Bless America, may God keep her safe. Bless you too, Nettie.

Alice

 
At 9/11/2005 01:32:00 AM, Blogger Jeff H said...

My most enduring memory is of looking up at the sky for several days afterward, and realizing "There are no planes flying." I desperately wanted to see planes fly again, to show things were "back to normal".

God Bless America, and may He see us on to victory over the forces of evil which seek to destroy us.

 
At 9/11/2005 09:14:00 AM, Blogger Valerie said...

I wll never forget. My kids were in school, and while my mind was telling me that they were probably safe there, my heart was pounding and all I wanted to do was go and get them and bring them home. I wanted to hold them tightly and never let them go.
The unity in this country afterwards was so inspiring. I am just so amazed and saddened to watch what is happening within our country now, just four short years afterwards.

 
At 9/11/2005 12:12:00 PM, Blogger Marla Bean said...

Before I explored anyone else's blog, this morning, I posted my own "never forget" story. I was afraid to be disappointed by going out to Blogdom and finding no one to remember. I'm SO GLAD I was wrong. I will never, ever forget.

 
At 9/11/2005 02:39:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

i was at the dentist when it first happened and went home afterward and watched in disbelief the rest of the day, and actually, many days after that. and i still don't understand why this happened.

 
At 9/11/2005 06:30:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes I will remember, and God forbid we ever forget. I was working as a paralegal in a Cobb county courthouse when I got the news. The Judge said there was a possibility that the court would close that day. That day changed America, thanks for the post.

 
At 9/11/2005 07:52:00 PM, Blogger Shelley L. MacKenzie said...

I was sitting at work with my earphones on, tuned into the radio that day...pretty much everyone else had too. We heard the news on the CBC (the programs had been cut into) telling about what had happened and feeding live coverage. I remember thinking that I could have been there that day. I had met someone from New York City and we were attempting to start a relationship but didn't work out (he was still fresh from a divorce and not ready for a relationship). I had planned on visiting him that very week that it happened (had things worked out between us). Sometimes I sit and wonder if God didn't want me with that man because He didn't want me in NYC during that because I hadn't accomplished all that He has for me.

This particular man works on 42nd St. (and still does). He had helped that day trying to help others. He said he had briefly stopped for about 5 minutes to talk to someone on the way to the site (before the towers fell) to say what had happened or something...and had he not stopped he would have been in the area where one of the towers came down and more than likely would have died.

 
At 9/11/2005 08:59:00 PM, Blogger Mark said...

I was running late for work, and though I never watch TV in the morning, I turned mine one...needless to say, I was REALLY late for work after that. I came in after the first plane struck, but before the second...

Horrible, horrible day...

 
At 9/11/2005 10:05:00 PM, Blogger Jeff H said...

I was sitting at my desk at work; a close friend called me, saying "One of the World Trade Center towers in New York is on fire--you need to get to a TV." I went on to the inpatient geriatric psych unit (I was in the administrative cost center of the psych department by that time) and they had the TV on; of course, most of the patients were either not watching, or couldn't understand what they were witnessing (most having dementia to varying degrees). By the time I got there, it was either right before or right after the 2nd tower was hit; I'm not sure if what I saw was the actual live footage or the first rerun of it. I knew immediately it was a terrorist attack. Too much of a coincidence to be accidents. I spent much of the rest of my day at work listening to NPR coverage on a coworker's radio that I brought into my office (couldn't get any better station at the time). When I got home, I just sat on the couch for hours watching TV coverage. I felt...numb, yet scared, and to some degree violated.

 
At 9/11/2005 10:48:00 PM, Blogger David Edward said...

I do remember and always will, and today I prayed for our country that we will never get complacent, or sloppy about how we care for our people.

 
At 9/13/2005 03:15:00 PM, Blogger Catherine West said...

That was awesome, Nettie.
Believe it or not, we were in our first morning of a new bible study group, and we were just beginning a study by Kay Arthur, called "Lord, Is It Warfare?"

We will never forget, even here in Bermuda, miles away from your country, our hearts and prayers were poured out for the USA.

 

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