9/11 Remembered – Where I was on 9/11…
I remember waking up on the morning of September 11, 2001 to the sound of my son crying. He was just born nearly 2 weeks ago and he was going through the phase all newborns go through. Early mornings and late nights. After checking on the kid, I hastily dressed for work and drove off. The streets were empty which I felt was odd as I jumped on the highway and headed North.
I decided to flip on the Radio and listen to some tunes to help wake me up. With dealing with Patrick I was already late so anything to get me going. Talk radio… kind of odd since this is the only Hard Rock station in Colorado Springs. I flipped it to Classic Rock and caught the briefest snippet of dialog “I repeat an Airplane has crashed into the World Trade Center… we will be back to live coverage in a moment.”
I guess I was lucky that I was one of the few people on the road as I am sure I swerved. Immediately my mind tried to process this information and in the ensuing silence, I laughed. “Ha ha, this had to be a joke.. they really got me…” and flipped the radio back to the hard rock station. Talk Radio.
“What we understand is that Washington has scrambled jets to shoot down Flight 93, the plane heading towards Washington… no wait, we are now being told that Flight 93 has crashed..”
I veered onto my exit and stopped at a light. The streets again struck me as oddly empty as I waited anxiously for the light to turn. The broadcaster was now discussing the planes that had crashed into the World Trade Center and how people were hurling themselves out of the uppermost floors of the building to avoid the fire. I was speechless.
I remember most the confusion. There were so many different conflicting reports. The numbers varied and the stories were a mess as people tried to apply reason to a situation that was unreasonable. This was a plot device for a bad action film. Terrorists flying planes into buildings.
By the time I finally pulled into my parking spot at work, there was uncertainty about the number of planes, who was orchestrating the attacks, and how many people had died. There were reports that our military was shooting down passenger jets, that the White House was under attack. That the Pentagon had been destroyed and that people were hijacking planes. Some claimed this was all a hoax and claimed our government was behind it all. Complete confusion.
I sat in front of my pc numbly while I waited for it to boot up. The whole Helpdesk was speculating on the nature of the attacks. Work was basically at a standstill and by the time I finally got into the O/S I had enough time to pull up a CNN page (after 15 or so tries) and tuned in to a live feed about 30 seconds before the second tower crumbled and fell.
I was waiting to wake up. I knew at any moment Patrick would start to cry and I would wake up.
I looked around and everyone on our Helpdesk was glued to their monitors. The calls started to poor into the Helpdesk as people, just waking up along the East Coast were trying to remote into Corporate but the whole Eastern Seaboard was down and internet traffic, like the rest of the traffic was slowed to a crawl, if not stopped altogether. For some of us, this became a horrific time as we received calls from people all along the East Coast who had yet to turn on the T.V. or grasp what is happening.
“Thanks for calling ________- Technologies, yes we understand that the Internet is down. Ma’am, I am not trying to be rude, but have your turned on your T.V.? No, I am not crazy, please take a moment and turn on your T.V.”
For some of us on the helpdesk it was overwhelming. There were no words to describe what was happening. Reason did not apply here and there was no way we could begin to define the hows and whys. I remember a girl on the helpdesk talking to the Mother of someone who worked in the World Trade Center. She was in tears as she listened to the reaction of this mother who found out for the first time the horrific news sweeping the nation.
I felt literally like someone was standing on my chest. We were allowed to leave early from work that day and by the time I finally got home, I remember standing outside in my driveway looking at the sky. Empty. The world was oddly quite as the empty skies held no passing planes. All air traffic was grounded and I knew in my heart that from that day forth, the world would never be the same.
I would like to take a moment and thank all of the heroes of 9/11. Not only the New York Fire Department and Police, but all of the people who worked tirelessly to support our Country. To the families who experienced tragedy on a personal level, I cannot possibly express how much I grieve for your loss. From the soldiers who fought in our defense to the great people of New York… You are all heroes. And though these simple words will never express or capture the nobility of your deeds, I wish to thank you from the bottom of my heart . You set the example and remind me to believe in America and what she represents… and have faith in the people who guard her.
