Reflections on 9/11

The anniversary of September 11, 2001 is coming. The three older children and Lynn and I watched a documentary on PBS tonight. This was well done. The footage of the twin towers burning is chilling. I remember the day well when it happened three years ago. I was on the “john.” It’s true that a mother can never go the bathroom in peace!

I hear my husband racing down the stairs and yell for me to come into the T.V. room. (I hate calling it that, I want a more euphemistic word, like library, sitting room, thinking chamber etc..) A friend called to alert us. Thank you, Cindy Swartz. There we all were huddled on the couch watching the events on a ten-inch television set.

“Those towers are going to come down,” I said. Physics is not my forte and my husband quickly informed me that those towers were built to withstand pressure and force. But intuitively I knew they were coming down.

To watch, actually watch, those buildings crumble was something my mind will never forget. We have all watched such horrendous things on TV that I believe we are desensitized to tragedy. But watching them crumble, there was nothing desensitized in my body then. Watching those buildings fall was as surreal as surreal can be. (Surreal: one of those words that when asked to define you wished you wouldn’t have used it) I remember thinking, ‘I can’t believe this, they came down, Oh my goodness, Oh my goodness.’

Such a sunny beautiful September day, it made you wince. It was like a fast ball coming out of nowhere and before you knew it was coming it was there. We were stuck. We couldn’t move. We were together watching the events unfold. We were sitting ducks. The planes were flying near. We were in the middle.

Just three weeks earlier we had picked up our daughter coming in from a trip to Ireland at the Newark Airport. Three weeks ago. You spend countless amount of time talking yourself out of hounding thoughts such as; What if the plane goes down, what if someone harrasses her etc. Then you realize something far worse could have happened.