It's really hard for me to believe it's been 7 years since the attacks of 9/11. I guess we are like our parents as far as they will always remember where they were when they heard about President Kennedy being assainated. We'll always remember where we were during the attacks. Matt and I were living here in Utah. I was pregnant with Carter and working as a child abuse investigator. I got a call at 2am on Sept 11th from work informing me that the children that we were planning on removing the next day from school (because it would be less dangerous) would need to be removed right then because the perp (who had broken his girlfriend's disabled son's femur) was back in the house and had access to that child and the other 2. The police officers couldn't find a copy of the protective order so I was asked to come into the office and get a copy from my file. It was 2am and Matt didn't want me going into the dark office that late at night errr morning so he came with me. We drove to my office which was the Utah County Building in Provo and I met the officers there and gave them a copy of the order. The on call worker did the actual removal of the 3 kids, Matt and I gassed up the car and came home. It took a lot longer than what is sounds like and we were exhausted. Plus, I had horrible morning sickness and had had to throw up before going into the office and before going back to bed. We both fell into a deep sleep. Hours later I woke up and before even turning on the television I called my Assistant DA Barbara McCleary (an awesome lady I must say) to tell her what our perp had done and that the kids had already been removed. I started the conversation with "Did you hear what happened?" Blank (can't use the real name) let her boyfriend back in the house and we had to remove last night." She replied "Oh I thought you meant what happened at the World Trade Center." I was confused by the comment since I had yet to hear about the attacks and I was still tired and foggy and didn't ask. I ended the call and then we turned on the tv and saw what had happened. The towers had already fallen. It was horrible. I felt like the world was upside down. Matt called in to work to say he'd be in later since we had had such a late night out but since his company had headquarters at the WTC they told him not to come in that actually they were sending everyone home. I went into work especially since I needed to find a foster home for 3 kids. I went and visited the kids at the 24 hour shelter, found them a placement and went home. I kept thinking how horrible that mother must have felt. To have her kids taken away and the whole world turned upside down on top of it. I know I just wanted my loved ones close to me to feel whatever security I could so I can't imagine how she must have felt. It's too bad that she valued her abusive boyfriend over her children. I remember how the world felt so different suddenly. How I felt so vunerable and how I was relieved that I hadn't seen it happen live because I feared that I would've lost the pregnancy. The whole thing was just so terrible. So very tragic and scary and evil. Remember what it used to be like before 9/11? I remember walking into the airport 15 minutes before the flight left. I remember just how easy going everything felt. Then suddenly the world changed and the white powder in our office elevator created a huge panic and evacuation. Turned out it was baby formula. During evacuation I had a total panic attack going down our flights of stairs thinking about the poor people who were going down unending flights of stairs and what they were thinking, the fear they must have been feeling and how tragically their lives ended. So I'm posting this to and asking everyone to bear witness today. That we think about what happened and do our best to live worthy of our lives. For me, I want to try to help make a peaceful life for my children and really we all want that for all the world's children. There's a beautiful song that was written in memory of 9/11. I learned it from our Music Together class. Music Together is a wonderful music program for kids. Carter and took several of their classes in California. The song is beautiful and I actually sing it as a lullaby to my children. Here's the link so you can listen it: http://musictogether.com/MayAllChildren. Feel free to add your memories, recollections, and thoughts about this day in the comments section.
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4 comments:
Annabelle was born 11 days after 9/11. I was going out with my mom and sister to do some last minute baby shopping. The stores were mostly closed and it was a gloomy day. I panicked every time I heard an airplane fly overhead. I was thinking "What am I doing bringing a child into this evil world?" I finally read a quote by President Hinckley that stated "Fear is the absence of faith. After a blessing, I felt much better. It was a crazy and sad time. My heart goes out to all of those who lost their lives and loved ones on this tragic day.
I was at an interview for a job with a temp agency in Philadelphia. I was sitting in the reception area, waiting for my turn, and people walking by the front window kept stopping and gesturing to the receptionist. I asked her what was going on and she said a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. It just made no sense to me... how could a plane crash into a building? As more details came out (2 planes, hijacking, another at the Pentagon) it was just so terrifying. Especially when the 4th plane crashed in Pennsylvania. The entire city of Philly was shut down, I met Matt at his office and we got home as quickly as we could on the train. There were lots of people on the train or in our neighborhood or in the ward who had family working in the WTC at the time, so it felt very real and very close to home. It all makes me so grateful to have the perspective of the gospel and know that there is more to hope for than just what this life has to offer. I'm so grateful to know about the plan of salvation! (Also, there was an anthrax scare at my office just a few weeks later, too... that was a rough year!!!)
We were living in CA at the time and Jim had left early for work to go to the dentist and my mom called me. We were on the phone watching the news together when the second plane hit. I just remember crying after I got off the phone with my mom while watching the news all day long. Somehow I just knew things would never be quite the same again; the world would never feel quite as safe.
I'm just grateful for the gospel perspective that gave me peace and comfort.
I was still in bed when my sister called and told me to turn on the tv. I watched as the second plane hit and as the buildings fell. I was so shocked and sad. It was totally surreal. I cried a lot. Orion was just 2 months old at the time. I was still not emotionally stable from the birth. I was out running errands soon after getting up and listening to KSL as they told about the plane in Pennsylvania. I watched the news constantly for a week. So many questions. I finally had to just turn it off. It was numbing me to my real life. I remember when the plane crashed in Queens a few weeks later. Over 200 people were killed and it was barely a blip on the collective consciousness, due to the fact that we had just lost over 3000 people a few weeks before. I remember thinking how bizarre that was that an actual plane crash a month before would have been HUGE news and now it felt like nothing. So sad.
Since then the thing that bothers me the most is how easily people have been willing to give up their freedoms for what they perceive as security. As far as I see it, we play directly into the terrorists hands when we live our lives through fear. That is what they love. Terror = fear. Of course we should be prepared as a country, but the freedoms that have been taken away are not worth it.
"The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either."--Benjamin Franklin
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