story4198.xml

story4198.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

I was at work on that fateful day, as many of us were. I walked back in the office to make some copies and was stopped by some of my coworkers talking about the first plane hitting the World Trade Center. We were frantically trying to find a radio, TV, or something on the internet. One of the guy's wives had called to tell us what had happened. While we were searching for something to listen to what was going on, our boss came out of his office. His wife had just called and told him a second plane hit the second tower. The phones just about stopped ringing in our office. We found a TV and turned it on. Immediately, everyone in the office was around it. Some were crying. But it was just astonishment for the most part. Shortly after we turned on the television, the started to broadcast that the Pentegon had been struck and they were trying to get someone there to cover it. They started talking about a fourth plane that was lost. Other small bombs were going off all over, but it was not known at that time if they were hoaxes or real. All of the memories are so clear, but are all mangled together. The first tower fell. No one could believe what they were seeing. How could these massive structures come down like that? One of our coworkers had just been to NYC that previous weekend and had visited the towers. His brother lived and worked not far from there. He was frantically trying to get ahold of him, but the phone lines were all jammed. We tried to go on with the day, but we kept coming back to the TV. The second tower came down. All those people! We were all numb. We felt helpless. They had found the plane, crashed, in Pennsylvania. One of our sales people lived not far from the crash site. He was in Detroit at the time, but his wife was home. We were all worried. She was fine but could see the smoke from the house. The president was stunned and said a few words before taking off in AirForce One. In my heart, I felt that we needed to hear from him often. His words were the only thing that was going to comfort our Nation. And he did a fantastic job throughout the coming days. About lunch time, I went out. I needed some space. I listened to the radio. I drove around. I cried for the first time. All of our schools were in lock-down and would only release the students to their parents. Many parents ran to the schools and took thier children home. We all felt we needed to be close to our families. I wanted to be with mine, but I had to continue with the day. Our Nation Guard went on lockdown with guarded posts at the entrances. Still to this day, there are barracades around the building and an armed guard at the entrance. Lansing is the home to Bioport, the only company that produces the Anthrax vaccine. We were worried about a possible strike there. Many companies closed their doors for the day. We continued to go on. My husband called after lunch. He wanted to make sure we were okay. My heart ached for everyone at Ground Zero. After work, I held my son tight. I cried. We watched the TV endlessly. It was everywhere. Every channel. You didn't know where to look. Everyone had something different on. As the days and weeks passed, things slowly retuned to normal. Flags were swiped off shelves as soon as they were put out. Every house had something. The nation came together. The crime rate dropped. It's sad that it takes something like this to make the ciminals stop. The nation was in mourning. Every night we watched the TV hoping that someone would be found alive. The death toll grew. The nation was still coming together, months later. We had a little hope when they found some people alive, but that was the end of it. When I heard that they were looking for DNA to match to body parts, I knew it was worse that I could have ever imagined. My best friend's dad, a local volunteer fire fighter, went out to help in the days after the accident. When he came home, he said that everything was crushed, pulverized. There were no desks, chairs, telephones or computers. Everything was dust. He was devistated, but bonded to everyone down there. Over the passed few months, the follow up reports have been coming out. I have been watching them with great interest. I feel it's the only way I can bond with the people at all of the sites of terror. I want so badly to capture and destroy Osama Bin Laden, and I have never wanted that for anyone - ever! Although, I feel that even if he is killed, it will not stop the torrorism. I have since had a second child. I fear more for my children that I do for anything else. I had them in hopes of joy and happiness in their lives. Now I fear that the joy I had hoped for will be turned into fear. I don't want them to have to always be on alert for a suicide bomber or fear every time they get on an air plane that something will happen. I am angry that the Nation will always have those fears now. Although we have become stronger, we have also become afraid and vulnerable. Time will never heal what has happened. Nothing can take that away from us. I attended a memorial service in the small town where I live with my two boys this morning. It was moving. The police and fire fighters all had the black bands around their badges. There was a gun salute and taps. I cried again for the aching nation. My oldest son doesn't understand. He was only 2 when everything happened. He knows that airplanes hit some buildings and hurt a lot of people and that it makes mommy sad. I am trying to preserve the history for him. Once he is in high school and in history class, the books won't be able to tell him what happened. I know my history books didn't do a good job of telling me anything about the vietnam war. Once I got older and started talking to people who had been there or lived through it, there was no comparison to anything I learned in a book. I want my boys to be able to come to me, and look through a scrap book and watch the video tape of the news coverage as it happened. I love America. She has been injured - an injury that will never heal. I pray that she will be able to watch over us now, and our future generations, and keep us strong and safe. I pray that those who have such hatred against us will get their justice. I pray that my family and friends and I will not die at the hads of a terrorist. I pray that I will not have to keep such horrible memories in a scrap book ever again! GOD BLESS AMERICA!