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#1078 | Wednesday, March 20th 2002
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My husband called me from his office at about 8 A.M. Pacific Standard Time,
more than 2 hours after the first plane
had hit the WTC #1 tower. I was reading
the paper, getting ready to leave for my job, and he told me to turn on the TV
because terrorists had attacked BOTH WTC's and the Pentagon. I found it difficult to believe what my eyes were seeing. Our 21-year-old son was still home for the summer from college, and just getting up to go to his summer job. I told him briefly what had happened, and sat on his bed as we both watched the shot of the 2nd jet hitting the 2nd tower. I asked him, "Is that a reenactment, or something?" because I just couldn't mentally accept that such a diabolical event could have happened in our free United States. He assured me that it was real, and we both sat there unable to comprehend the massive loss of life, terror, unspeakable evil, and loss of innocence that many of us as Americans had been feeling for a long time up to that point. I was 12 years old and in junior high when the news of President John F. Kennedy's assassination was announced, and can remember the horror, shock, and fear I felt at that time. This time, it was even worse, as I am now the mother of 2 young adults, and I wonder about the future of the USA as they experience their adult lives. I went to work at the medical clinic where I am a certified diabetes nurse educator, but many people didn't show up for their appointments. I kept the radio in my office on at low volume all day. At lunchtime, I drove to my church and said a prayer along with my pastor and a few other people, for the victims, the future of our country, the perpetrators of the violence and hatred, and our future generations. I cried off and on for most of that week. I turned 51 on the 6 month anniversary of the attack, and will never feel as safe as I used to. I have flown halfway across the country twice since the attacks, and will continue to do so. My condolences and prayers go to the families hurt by this devastation. God has and will continue to bless America.
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Sydney | 51 | California
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#1072 | Tuesday, March 19th 2002
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It was the usual hurry get out of bed and into the shower, quick get a cup of tea, turn on the news, and catch the weather kind of morning. But after only a few minutes of the regular news they said there was a breaking story from N.Y. As they began to feed the live coverage from N.Y. I had this horrible sinking feeling. They said the fire had only been burning for a short time. But how could it have spread so quickly? Then to my horror from the corner of the shot they were showing I saw the airplane hit the other building. What began to seem plain enough to me, was not even apparent to the news anchors here on the west coast. But one news anchor must have took another look and realized what she had actually seen. I had this horrible empty, sinking, edge of my seat feeling. My hands were cold and my eyes were wet. How could I explain to my own children what this was. They asked me if someone had died. They could not understand why someone would fly a plane into a building. I tried to keep myself together not only for them, but for all the school children I see every day. They must have some sense of safety, that school was a good place to be. When I still think about that day I get the same feeling again. My overwhelming thought of those that suffered and lost is saddest of all. Please remember that you and your families are in my thoughts every day. We will not forget!
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suzy | 40 | California
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#1059 | Monday, March 18th 2002
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I’m retired, and don’t get up until about 10:00AM (California time). I was on my computer around 10:30, when I saw an obscure notice that the Mayor of San Francisco had locked down the City. Thinking it might have been an earthquake, I went to the web page for the San Francisco Chronicle. When I saw the headline that the Twin Towers in New York had both collapsed, I thought that some hacker must have gotten into the web site. Then I turned on my TV. I spent most of the next week glued to the TV and reading the e-mails that were forwarded from around the world.
I remember being so inspired by the acts of courage and compassion by the people in New York. One e-mail told about a black gangsta kid helping an elderly white man. The response from the rest of the world was so moving. I heard that a pet grooming business near Ground Zero was not only keeping the pets safe that were already there, it was accepting other pets and at no charge.
At first, it looked like this might be the event that put an end to the violence between Israel and Palestine and other places around the world, but sadly that has not happened. If anything it’s gotten worse.
I hope that the US will do more than just wage war on the terrorists. Until the terrible poverty that so much of the world lives in is eased, there will continue to be resentment towards the US which terrorists can and will exploit.
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Robin | 57 | California
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#1048 | Saturday, March 16th 2002
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On the 11th I was in my room getting ready for school when my 12 year old brother came into see me almost crying. He said that on the raido he had heard that a building in New York was hit by a plane. I just comforted him and thought nothing of it. Then my father called from work and told me to turn on the news and wake up my mom. On my way down to the bus stop my mom said that if anything happened in San Francisco she would come to school to get my brother, sister, and I. In all of my classes I watched the news and found out about EVERTHING that happened. I could not belive it. After school I was glued to the t.v.. Everyone I knew, Including me, had a blank stare for at least a week after what happened.
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Ashley | 15 | California
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#1046 | Saturday, March 16th 2002
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It was about 7:00 in the morning and i had just gotten out of bed, usually in the morning the radio in the kitchen is on and my parents are drinking their coffe, but on the 11th they weren't. I walked in to the kitchen and my dad was standing there with tears in his eyes. He hugged me tight and the first thing that he told me was that he was sorry, and somebody had done something horrible. Then he told me that 2 planes had crashed into the world trade center. At first I didn't get the velocity of it, I figurerd that a small, private plane had hit the corner or something. My mom was in her room watching the news, also crying, my grandfather on her side lives in NY and works about 10 blocks from the WTC. All morning as i was getting ready for school I was listening to news on the radio, then they announced that all schools were closed. It wasn't until my grandmother called to say that my grandfather was ok that I really started to worry about all those people. The next day at school teachers were hugging and crying and comforting each other which made it even scarier, none of the adults knew what to do either. I'm not sure when it all really hit me, but I don't think that I'll ever forget that day.
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marissa | 13 | California
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