It was a beautiful fall day. The sky was a clear blue with hardly a cloud anywhere. I wished everything was as cheerful as the morning appeared to be, but unfortunately I was on my way to the hospital with more complications from being in the family way again.
We had dropped Sailor of at my parents until we got back. As we were driving along we noticed a big plume of smoke ahead of us. LV and the driver commented on it a bit but I was too wrapped up in why we were on the road to begin with to worry about why anyone had decided to light a big bonfire.
Once we got to the hospital we had to wait a long time while everything else seemed to be in utter chaos. Finally when the doctor was ready to see me she told us that everyone had been on standby to take care of any survivors from a plane that had crashed nearby. Unfortunately there had been no survivors.
After being told to go home and stay in bed for a while we left. Driving home was a sober, almost fearful feeling as we listened to all the latest news regarding the attacks in New York City and D.C. and that everyone was thinking that Flight 93, that sudden plume of smoke we had seen was connected.
We of-course found out that it was indeed connected and the following days there seemed to be a sense of dread hanging over the entire community. The ministers would warn of bad days to come in their sermons and were sure that young men and boys would soon be called into a draft. They had their own theories on how they would probably be screened to see if they would be eligible for C.O. status. Basically using this as another handle of control which seemed to work considering all the church confessions that were being made.
Life got back to normal for us before long, but everytime we would pass that field where Flight 93 went down we were reminded that for some people life would never be the same again and all we could do was hope that somehow they could find comfort and healing.
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I still get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach remembering that day. I was pregnant as well and gave birth a week later. I remember being in the doctor's office that week wondering why they didn't turn the radio off...my pregnant, emotional self just couldn't handle hearing about it all anymore. So many sad stories.
ReplyDeleteI will never forget that day either. Both of my children were in college in western Pennsylvania, and many of their friends were from the vicinity of that crash. Because of the other terrorist incidents that day, phone lines were jammed, and I could not get through to my children, nor they to me. I was so very concerned for them, and they were paniced because I work in a major city not far from NY. It was a day that changed our lives forever. I can't begin to imagine what thoughts must have been going through your community, isolated as it was from day-to-day news.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to believe that nearly ten years have passed since that awful day. I'm so thankful that I didn't have any loved ones involved, however my heart aches for those who did.
ReplyDeleteThat day indeed! It was sad and shocking for all of us. I saw it and still do as a warning to our country of what's ahead if we continue to spurn true Bible principles. Our country was blessed for years, and I think the reason is because the majority of people served the Lord back in those days.
ReplyDeleteI remember that day well too. It was a dreadful day. It still makes me sad and gives me a knot in the pit of my stomach.
ReplyDeleteI too remember that day clearly. One of the men I work with came in and said that the World Trade Center had been bombed and I told him he wasn't funny. THen I found out he was telling the truth. It was so scary to know I had family in the state of NY and I didn't know where they all were. My brother in law drove into NYC regularly to work and I was concerned he may have been involved somehow. Thankfully he was not anywhere near by. But to think that another group of people could hate the USA so much as to do this is scary in and of itself. It is sad that this happened and is continueing to effect the lives of people even now.
ReplyDeleteI remember that day very clearly, too. I was at home with my then-4 year old daughter. My sister called me to tell the news. I then called my husband at work. I had turned on the small TV in my room, watching the twin towers smoldering. While we were still on the phone, the first tower fell. I couldn't believe my eyes!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know anyone personally affected by the tragedy, but it really happened to the whole nation.
Have you ever read the book, Let's Roll, by Lisa Beamer? Her husband, Todd, was on Flight 93, and she writes about their lives and how God orchestrated things on the flight. Todd was a Christ-follower. It's a wonderful book!
My daughter, then 9yrs, and I went out to a meeting that day. I don't think it really registered as real to her until I pointed out the smoke coming up over the hill was from the towers we had been watching on TV earlier.
ReplyDeleteOur next door neighbors lost their nephew (a firefighter), other friends lost a brother who worked in the towers.
I remember too...such a sad...sad day indeed....blessings on your week...
ReplyDeleteEveryone in the world was connected that day, we all remember where we were when we found out. I like to think that out of that tragedy rose a feeling of unity for all peaceful people like never experienced before.
ReplyDeleteI'll never forget that day either. I'm from Pennsylvania too, and have often driven through Somerset county (though I'm from farther west). I was teaching my class of senior statistics students and was just letting them go from class when my principal came and told me what had happened, and I watched in shock with my students the next few hours ...
ReplyDeleteI'm thankful that my cousin hadn't yet left for work in Manhattan at an advertising agency. Instead, she watched the towers fall from her balcony.
ReplyDeleteI was teaching my third grade class when the Principal announced we should turn on our tvs. We watched in horror as events unfolded. Some children thought it was a movie, others knew it wasn't. I should have turned it off, but I was in such shock, I didn't. I violated a federal law and told my children we should pray, and we did. Homeland Security came by to check on us, even though we were a small town in Tennessee.
ReplyDeleteCarolyn Pederson
I was at work, when my husband called and excitedly said, "Something's happening!" He told me that there had been one plane that hit the first building and he'd called just after the 2nd tower was struck. At my office, we all watched through the static of a tiny tv, and tried to figure out what was going on.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, a church friend's son who was in the military, was at work at the Pentagon. A friend who I hadn't seen in 20 years was on Flight 93. Prayers were being said all over the world before we all knew what had happened. And God renewed our compassion and patriotism, at least for a little while, as our hearts broke for all the families who'd lost their loved ones.
My husband was off to work, when the phone rang and our middle daughter whom was to be 2 blocks from the world trade center at a meeting called to say "Mom, our trip/meeting was cancelled, now turn the TV on" I wasn't even sure of what I was watching until she told me...
ReplyDeleteThen our niece came to mind as she is an attendant for the airlines, and we had NO Way of knowing IF she was on a flight...( Thank God she was Not)
The phone started beeping (call waiting) as our youngest daughter in Virginia called "Crying the sirens are going off, and It's Very Bad" Her husband was stationed on the George Washington the ship that went into the Harbour...To this day I have the photo of the ship hanging on my wall with the Twin Towers burning in the background!! There was NO way to get our Daughter & Grandson immediately out of Virginia... it took a week to be able to fly them home!!
Finally, my husband was able to get through on the phone, and asked about everyone, his work/job sent him home to be with me...Since so many Family members could have been involved
I Will Never~~NEVER Forget!!!
I can only inagine how you must have felt. Concern for your pregnancy was already huge in your mind, then to hear the horrible news about that sad day too must have been overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteIt is a day that most of us will never forget. I am amazed at those who view it so lightly.
Like everyone I will never forget the moment we first found out what was going on that day...Our lives were changed forever that day...My husband an airline employee in Charlotte NC, stayed glued to the TV as myself and my GF went to the school to pick up our children...Afraid that Charlotte as the banking capital of the South East would also become a target.
ReplyDeleteThough we had no family killed in the events, like so many airline families we faced the after effects deeply...by Dec 14th my husband's number was called, 18yrs with the company and he was now unemployed along with 25K other airline workers.
After 3yrs we had to face the fact we just could not afford to struggle in the city without the USair pay check any longer and made the decision to move to FL and start again..Took another 6yrs of renting and scratching and saving but we are now very blessed to have our little country home and enjoy all the gifts God has piled on our plates...We are a stronger family unit because of it.
We will never forget the events that shook the world and reshaped our future...The impact 10yrs later is still evident in so many lives around the world.
The only thing evil needs in order to thrive, is for good men to do nothing. In my life, I have witness the JFK assassination, Vietnam, 9/11 and other evils, including sexual abuse in church. The church becomes irrelevant when evil is not explained from a Bible perspective and the need for salvation. Christ told us evil things would take place, to pray for those who do evil and confront sin with the Word of God. When evil things happen it is suppose to be an exceedingly bad thing and shock us because it is wrong and will never be right. The problem is far too often tolerance is preached and we become dull to the exceedingly bad thing called sin. God is loving, but God is just. We live in a time of grace so the message of the cross can be preached; yet, the name of Ichabod is written on the doors of many churches. This leaving the remnant Christian to say far too many Christians are 30 miles wide and only half inch deep, meaning their faith is shallow as well as the understanding of our purpose is to preach the cross with our lives of righteousness and with words when needed. May our lives convict us of being Christians in all our ways.
ReplyDeleteMrs. J.
We all hugged our families a little tighter that day. My oldest was called into work (metro ny/nj paper) and saw the smoke, then saw the towers tumble from his newsroom window. He remembered being there in his daddy's office when he was little. The office had moved to a new location in a different city by the time of the attacks. One of his friends worked at the pentagon and had left the office to go to the ATM. Her office was gone and so were her friends. She immediately decided to go to the Child Care area to help with the children. Good thinking at a stressful time!
ReplyDeleteLife changed forever that day but God is still on the throne.
I was resting up with just three weeks to go before I gave birth to our second daughter when this tragedy happened. It made me feel so sick to see it all unfolding on the TV. It was an awful,awful day.
ReplyDelete