Thursday, September 11, 2008

Where were you?

Seven years ago today I was in my dorm room on the campus of Illinois State University. I was getting ready to go do childcare for a mom's group at a local church. I actually didn't have the TV on that morning, but as I was walking through the dorm lounges, I saw people glued to the television. There was an eerie silence as people watched the footage of what was taking place. I tried to piece together what I could from what I caught. As I arrived at the mom's group, more pieces fell together as they started a prayer vigil. At that time, there was still so little that was known. As the day progressed, a lot of classes were cancelled, or they opted to just allow students to watch the footage of what was happening. It seemed a bit surreal. There seemed to be a camraderie of sorts bonded through the whole campus. Nobody was really immune to what was happening. Thus forging a common bond as people gathered together to watch the events, that rocked the nation, unfold. I think everyone was really panicked about the possible outcomes. There were so many prayer vigils happening everywhere. I don't think my feelings really went beyond shock and horror that day. As the days progressed, I felt more. There was a guy in one of my classes who had lost his brother. It seemed that the tentacles of this horrendous event reached everywhere. I'm too young to remember Pearl Harbor or many of the other momentous events in history...but I DO remember the morning of 9/11 very clearly. Where were you the morning of 9/11?

7 comments:

Ann said...

It's a day I don't think any of us will forget, that's for sure.

I taught (totally not approved) two high school students Chemistry at a local church school. I saw the first one hit as I was going into class, but went ahead and taught anyway. We heard about the second one hitting when I was done with class...I drove home and wondered what I should do with the day. I ended up going in, teaching my class and lab. The wierdest thing was that it was a beautiful, crisp in the morning but warm by lunch, sunny fall day, and my thought was "how can something so horrible happen, and it still be so beautiful here??"

My grandmother passed away three days beforehand, and I'm sure it would have literally killed her. It definitely made getting home for the funeral interesting (we ended up driving 14 hours for it).

Smileyface said...

I was gettin ready for work at the Doctor's office I worked for. Heard it on the radio and it seemed so unreal. Like, did I just hear what I thought I heard?
One of my closest friends was a truck driver and had been hauling oil tankers into a big plant in chicago. it was soon being said that day that they were shutting down all the huge oil refineries because they thought they might be hit too...i remember praying so hard for my friend because i couldn't get ahold of him for the longest time.
i remember everyone just started bonding together and alot of emotions going on that whole week.
it was an amazing thing to see everyone come together in a closeness that wouldn't have otherwise happened.

Anonymous said...

I didn't hear about the attack till later in the morning. I was 2 days from graduating cosmetology school and when I got to school that morning the girls were all talking about what had happened. There was a lot of fear of an attack close to us because we had a major weapons plant close by. I have to admit I had no idea what the World Trade Center was so the impact of what had truly happened didn't sink in till I got home that afternoon and saw footage of the attacks. I remember just sitting on front of the tv and crying watching the scene over and over again. I just couldn't believe that anyone could do something like that. I agree that it is a day we won't ever forget.

Elizabeth said...

its crazy... that such a significant even occured, and yet 7 years later, many (like you) are stopping to reflect and others don't say a word. I was in a bible study (large group of 80 women) and was surprised that not a single thing was mentioned... or at least a little prayer ...
it was pretty darn amazing to see the country come together like that.. just wish it wasn't just in times of disaster.
I was heading into work, and had a cd not the radio, so when I got to my store, I had no clue. One of my pharmacy techs came in saying that there had been a plane crash in NYC.. and at that time, thats all we knew!
I went down to one of my shelves and pulled open a boxed radio, grabbed some batteries, and we listened all day to the story unfold.. it certianly was a surreal kind of day. I remember just being glued to the tv for many days to come. that image is forever ingrained in my head.
(sorry, for hijacking your blog!! LOL)

Amanda said...

I had just gotten out of a lab and was in my dorm. I don't remember which lab though. Maybe computer science.

It took a while for the enormity to sink in.

Mary Sue said...

I was at home with a day off. I went to check the mail at the post-office and heard reports on the radio. The postal worker explained, so I went home, fell face down in prayer, then watched in shock and numbness all that took place. Hard to believe the kindergarten and first grades students I work with will only read about it in history books.

SLP said...

I was teaching fifth grade and heard about it as a teacher grabbed me in the hallway as my students were taking a bathroom break. I was in shock and really did not understand what was happening, but since 5th graders can't be abandoned during the day, I had to keep teaching not knowing what was happening. Thoughts of craziness were running through my mind. The next few days of processing with 10 and 11 year olds was very interesting. I remember that some of them were laughing at seeing people falling/jumping from the burning buildings. I sternly explained to them that it was REAL people with REAL families NOT actors. They see so much violence on TV that they couldn't separate real from acting. They sobered up quickly and we had some deep talks. It is a day no one will forget!