mrsmuffin

I was just curious how this day makes everyone feel? Where were you when it happened/heard about it? Do you do anything in particular on the anniversary?

I will go first. 9/11 always makes me a little sad. I don't know anyone who was there and didn't lose anyone in the tragedy, but I still get chill bumps everytime I think about it.

I was at work that morning, my Mom had just gotten back from a trip to Europe the day before and I rememeber being very thankful that I knew where she was. We pretty much watched coverage of it all day at work on the internet, and even though my then almost 1 year old son was at my house safe with my in-laws I had a huge fear of something else happening before I got home to him.

I usually try to read/watch anything new about 9/11. My uncle took his family to the WTC site on 9/11/02 and has a great narritave and tons of pictures on his personal website, so I always go re-read that.

I just thought it would be nice to have a thread to see what everyone else has to say on this day...

Fishies-for-me

I was in my living room...it was 5 days after my last husband died of cancer . I turned on the tv moments after the 1st plane crashed and immediatly called my
dad thinking it was a bad accident. I then saw the 2nd plane hit and altho I knew it was real I couldn't wrap my mind around it. I spent the whole day sitting in front of the tv crying and watching and I still get goose bumps thinking about it. I was devestated with so many emotions and I still get waves of emotions washing over me when I think of it and see things on tv. I knew no one there but felt very close to the people who lost loved ones in the attack as it was so close to a loss of my own loved one.

Lucy

I was in the ICU waiting room, my mom was gravely ill, the doctors had told me it was time to contact out of town family.

The news was on, they were showing the world trade center....the first one had already been hit.

No one but me recognized it as NYC....I remember saying, Omg, that's NYC, everyone turned just in time to watch the second plane hit.
Soon after that, the doctors came out and I had one of the last visits with my mom.

It was a crappy day to say the least.

My prayers go out to all the families effected by this senseless act.

Martinismommy

It's a very sad day...I feel bad for the families who have lost their loved ones....I also feel bad for the men and women who are in Iraq right now....My son has gone over there 3 times since 9/11....

The morning it happened I was in Palm Springs, CA just waking up having my coffee when I got the call to turn the news on....My heart dropped because I KNEW my son would be going to war....

God Bless all the families who are suffering today...

Allie

Even though I am up here in Canada. It makes me feel very upset. I was watching the news when it happened live. Kind of a surreal feeling. The whole world has been affect by 911. So much has changed, not for the good. I feel horrible and send lots of good vibes to those who lost people on 911 and in the war.
A friend of ours is being sent to Afghanistan soon. 50-50 chance of him returning, has been on special training for the past 3 months. He was sent to the Belize, in the jungle to learn to deal with the heat. He part is of an elite team being sent over to handle some undisclosed business. The last team wasn't found. Which is why they are sending another.
Pretty darn scary for his wife 28, and 2 girls, 6 and 13yrs old.
Hugs to all today.

jdhef

It is always a bittersweet day for me, since it was my daughter's second birthday.

I remember I was at work and one of my co-workers told me that a light aircraft ran into the WTC. It wasn't until a little while later that the news trickled out about it being a passenger jet. We still thought it was an accident. Then the second tower got hit, then the plane ran into the Pentagon, then the plane went down in PA...it seemed like it was never going to end.

My wife had no idea what had happened. She had spent the morning watching Nick with my daughter, and listening to my daughter's kiddie music tapes in the car. She went to the mall to get photos taken for my daughter's second birthday. When she got to the mall most of the stores were closed, and the one's that weren't closed were in the process of closing. So my wife inquired about why all the stores were closed. Of course the person looked at her like she just landed on the planet.

sirdarksol

To me, it's a day. There are so many days that have been tragic throughout history, and while I try to remember them, I try not to dwell on them, if that makes sense.
Aside from this, certain people have caused me to become jaded with their repeated use of the phrase "nine uhleven" to try to keep the people in fear.

That being said, when it happened, it was terrible. I was at work, and I didn't hear about it until a patient (I was an appointment scheduler) asked if I knew what was going on. One by one, myself and my fellows went out to the waiting room to check the TV to see what was going on. We went through the rest of the day kind of numb
I think I dealt with it better than most of my co-workers did. At least, from a work standpoint, I did. Of course, every patient wanted to talk about it, and one of my co-workers worked herself into a near hysteria talking about it over and over again. We still had patients to deal with, and I got tired of hearing "have you heard about the Towers?" by the end of the first hour.

What horrified me most, though, was America's reaction to it. I don't mean the instant, knee-jerk reaction of fear. That's normal.
I'm talking about Americans turning on fellow Americans, simply because they looked like they could be from the Middle-East. I know Indians and even Japanese people who were targeted for being "those Muslims."
Terrorists killing citizens of any country makes me sad, but I will not let them do their job. I will not let them terrorize me.
But I cannot help but feel my heart sink when citizens terrorize their fellow citizens out of misplaced fear, and it makes me even more sad when the government focuses more on "punishing the terrorists" than it does to restoring order among the citizens.

I am also proud of many Americans' response. While the majority of our government was working in paranoia mode, there were regular people all around the country showing their heroism in one way or another. The emergency personnel who responded in New York, of course, deserve the title of hero, but so do people like my friend, who took the time to talk to a local convenience store owner (whose family is from the Middle East) and comfort him after he had been treated like garbage over the course of the day, simply because of his accent and the color of his skin.
Places of worship for all religions opening their doors for all who would come and holding services to bring a sense of unity and support.
People who, the day after it happened, said "Yes, I will be going to work in the IDS tower," (or whatever huge skyscraper they worked in), "because I am not going to let the terrorists scare me into not working."

Chief_waterchanger

I agree with most of what Sirdarksol said.

It is just another day in history for me and whether I know anyone affected or not is of little consequence. To me it took the wool off of people's eyes, which is one of the good things that came of it. The general populace in the USA seemed to behave as though we had nothing to fear from anyone else in the world. That, to me, is a very close-minded view point. The world is dangerous and you can be here one moment and gone the next... That's life. Learn to enjoy life and do what you can while you're here. Lesson learned.


(Infact, it didn't even register with me that this was anymore of a special day than tomorrow will be until I saw this thread.)

Allie

Yup Middle Eastern people (even here) have been given a bad rep, due to the ones who choice the fanatical way to show their beliefs. Some how no matter which way you twist it...which ever god you believe in wouldn't have wanted all this to happen for anyone.
A friend of ours who works at the airport in security, said that some of the security will pick out ME people to check just b/c. Not fair at all.
At the same time whatever color you are if your dress in a hip hop style around here, the police ASSUME you are a gangster. Ask questions later. Again one group of people ruining it for others.
It's shame that violence is the only way some groups feel they need to communicate...it's sad.

sirdarksol

Same here.

mrsmuffin

I agree totally that it is horrible how some people have treated those citizens who are Middle Eastern just because of the color of their skin. Of course, I think it is horrible that anyone is treated badly because of the color of their skin no matter what it is.

As far as it being just another day in history I disagree and here is why - this is probably the most signifigant historic event that has taken place in my lifetime, certainly since I was old enough to pay attention to things. Yes there was the first Gulf War, but I was in high school and it was very far away to me. I am sure that the people that lived when Pearl Harbor happened (another direct attack on our country is the reason for this example) held that date much closer to heart than we do today. I am not saying there is a right or wrong way to feel about this day - this is just the way I feel.

One of the reactions that came from 9/11 that I like the best is the patriotism that was and has been shown towards our country since then, and the desire to help that came immediately following.

I always know when it is 9/11 because 9/12 has several personal (all good) signifigant meanings to me...

sirdarksol

I try not to place importance on dates because they've happened within my lifetime. I keep in my memory, at all times, some of the most horrific acts of humanity (which, sadly, the destruction of the Twin Towers rates low on), and periodically pray for those who were affected by these acts. The Crusades, the Holocaust, the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, slavery and the Civil War, England's attempt to use force to keep American's submissive. All of these were, in one way or another, acts of terrorism. Some had positive side-effects, but that doesn't change their nature. I may not remember specific dates for all of them, but I keep them close at hand, because I don't want to forget where I come from, and I don't want to forget those people who rose above the challenges presented to them and railed against such acts of terrorism.

Gamer

I had actually woken up from a hangover and turned my computer on. My messenger was set to instantly come up at the time and it did and I got an IM from an online from of mine from Taiwan who asked me if I heard the news...I said "What news?". He said "You're going to have a war!" I was like what...why? He typed so frantically and I was so hungover and all I got out of it was "Planes down", "New York" and "on fire!". So I thought someone...possibly China had nuked New York and shot some of our planes down. Scary thought! I turned on the news and saw the image and called my mom and she calmly explained what all had gone down. That two airplanes crashed into the Twin Towers and one into the Pentagon and another was down in a field...So I then gathered it was breaking news and that a terrorist attack (or something like it) had occured on America.

I was an alcoholic/drug addict then with a very bad hangover but the news of this sobered me up quick and FOR GOOD. The events changed my entire life and made me want to give up drugs which I did. I haven't touched them since. Had it not occured...I think I'd have continued wasting my life, battling addiction and would have ultimately just wasted away. I can't explain exactly why but my reaction to 9/11 made me want to completely turn my life around and make every day count. And I couldn't make each day count high or drunk. Since then I gave up my old habits (not just drugs but alot of illegal stuff I was into), got closer to God, abide by every law (I pay my parking tickets and all) and most of all it brought me back together with my family/relatives whom I had seperated myself from and had a terrible falling out with years before.

It may be sad that it took something like that for me to clean my life up but it did and to me it can never be just another day but it'll always remain a very big day for me. The day that forever changed my life for the better.

It was easy to give it all up at first. Then I admit that I became complacent and thought about going back to my old ways but I didn't. I took up new hobby's mainly bodybuilding and fishkeeping which are my anti-drugs so to speak and are the reasons I have yet to break the vow I made on 9/11 to never use again.

mrsmuffin

Gamer - that is a great story!

SDS - that is a very respectable position. I am sure that more of us should think more often about the things that others have endured to give us the wonderful life that we have.

sirdarksol

I should say that I'm not saying your position isn't valid. Who knows which, if either, is more right than the other? As long as we try to do good with our memories of history, that's what's important.

And I agree, Gamer, I'm glad that you found something to clean drugs from your life. Alcoholism runs in my family, and I've seen the difficulty of the fight. I commend you for your strength.

mrsmuffin

Don't worry, I didn't take it that you were saying that one position was better than another. Sorry if I seem defensive sometimes; really I don't intend to be. Just blame it on me being an emotional woman!!

sirdarksol

You didn't. I just realized that my stance could have seemed critical, and I didn't mean it to be.

mrsmuffin

I try hard not to take things personal in life, much less on this board! Thanks for the clarification, though.