story2766.xml

story2766.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

Do you remember where you were on September 11, 2001?

Well, I?m sure every American and most non-Americans do. It was a world-changing day with events that affected everyone in one-way or another.

I remember where I was. I was at home. I woke up early that morning, looked outside at the sunny warm day, and thought?wow, I?m 21. Then I looked at my stomach and asked my son if he was ready to come out yet, he was due September 6th but was being stubborn like, well, me.

So, I went upstairs, and while my husband got ready for work, I talked to my mom as she welcomed her daycare into the house. I think it was Good Morning America she had on in the kitchen, and she called me from the other room to tell me when the first plane hit. I was helping a few of the kids with their shoes to go outside.

My husband had just left, and my mom was at the neighborhood playground, and I was sitting uncomfortably on the plush floor of our living room watching the news as the second plane hit, then the pentagon, and those poor brave souls in Pennsylvania went down.

The phone rang, and it was one of the daycare parents, a linguist at NSA, and she told me that she was on her way to get her kids. It wasn?t an accident she said it was terrorists. I waddled, being pregnant and all, out to get my mom as fast as my 41 week pregnant self could go and told her what was going on.

My husband called and said he was on his way back from work. Another daycare parent called saying he was on his way to get his kids too, we lived too close to NSA for his comfort. I guess living only 15 minutes from NSA and 35 minutes from Washington, DC was no longer looking like such a blessing.

Anyway, my father was in Georgia on his 2 weeks of reserves, my one sister was stationed in New Mexico with the Air Force and her 6-year-old daughter. My other sister called from Baltimore saying she was coming to be with us, and I sat on the floor in the living room again and watched the towers fall.

My phone rang a few times with ?Happy Birthday, I?m sorry? as the anthem of the day, so I just stopped answering the phone, and prayed that my son not be born on that day. Well, my husband got home, then my sister called that she was on the way, but she couldn?t get a hold of her husband who had bee working in the DC area. As you can imagine all the cell phone lines were pretty tied, so we told her just to worry about driving and we?d keep trying him. I guess the other reason she was a little uneasy is that her husband is Arab and he was stuck in the city. So, we got a hold of Marwan, that?s my brother-in-law?s name, and told him just to come to our house instead of to his, since it was closer to DC, and my sister was on her way.

Well, my sister arrived and so did her husband, and my husband and my mom and I and our 2 new puppies sat in the living room for the rest of the day. Watching the news in horror unable to pull away. We got hold of my dad, who?s 2 weeks turned to more, and we got hold of my other sister who was now working 20 hour shifts and my niece was going back and forth to the boys and girls club at the base. And we sat and we watched, and I prayed my son wouldn?t come.

I think we were just waiting to see if the world would end, and for many, it did. And for all, it changed. My son was born the 18th of September. I married my husband on October 13th. I?ll never look at planes flying overhead without wondering what they may do, and nothing will ever be the same.

There?s no moral to this. No hidden meaning. It?s just something I wanted to share. That day affected us all, and will continue to, even now 6 months later it is fresh in our hearts and minds. We will never forget, and we shouldn?t. But, I sure would like to feel some of the safety and security I once did.