Although it’s been ten years, it feels like almost yesterday to me. I was in my office at the College. My computer was on and suddenly I saw images of the Twin Towers in flames. Our country was under attack. I went to my first class, told the students what had just happened (most of them hadn’t heard) and I cancelled the class. A little while later, the Administration cancelled all the classes that day. I went home and watched CNN like most people did. It seemed like the world had just changed dramatically. And it did. Now, 10 years later, we’re still in danger even though we’re fighting two wars, we’ve killed bin Laden, and damaged Al-Qaeda. I don’t feel much safer, do you?
I was in my office in the University too. All the money spent and lives lost and we are no safer. We are just poorer and angrier. What a shame. They did win.
Our lives have been changed forever, Patti. Remember when you could just walk into an Airport, go to your gate, and get on the plane? I can’t wait to see what hoops I’m going to have to jump through for the TSA with my new titanium knee.
No, I don’t feel safer. I was actually just a couple of miles from Ground Zero, just across the Brooklyn Bridge in downtown Brooklyn. I heard the news on the car radio and assumed it was an accident like the plane hitting the Empire State Building in the fog in 1945…then I heard about the second plane.
I drove to the post office in Red Hook (where I was headed) and when I got out there was a clear view of the towers. Old-fashioned fax papers were blowing across the river and landing at our feet.
I had just made it home and was about to get out of the car when I heard the first tower collapse on the radio.
Jackie was in her second day at her friend’s brand-new school on the fourth floor of a building with a clear view facing lower Manhattan. They had to pull the shades down so the kids wouldn’t watch and had to stay until every child was picked up that afternoon.
Diane had to stay with her school kids, too, Jeff. My College cancelled classes, but Diane’s elementary school kept the kids in class the whole day. Nobody knew how to react back then.
The guy in the office next door had a TV set. He came in and told me that a plane had crashed into the WTC. I went into his office and watched the reports. An incredible day and one that will still be affecting us for years to come.
I was numb for most of September 11, Bill. Shock, disbelief, and sadness for the victims in the WTC are part of what I remember about that day. And, I remember cancelling my plans to attend BOUCHERCON in D.C.
My husband was on a plane headed for a business meeting in Miami, with a scheduled plane-change in Orlando. He said he was looking down as the plane was coming in for the landing and he knew he wasn’t looking at Orlando (the sprawl of Disney is hard to miss from the air). Then the pilot announced that the FAA had ordered all planes to land at the nearest airport, which for their plane was Jacksonville. I was a stay-at-home mom at the time and had been listening to NPR that morning (before anything had happened), but turned the radio off while I drove my oldest to school (we used the commute time to go over spelling words, math drills, etc.–yes, I’m a martinet of a mother!) Then I had some errands to run, so I didn’t turn the car radio back on until after 9:00 (CST) and I was surprised to hear NPR’s Morning Edition still broadcasting. Then I heard the news (I’ll always remember how Bob Edwards paused with disbelief when a reporter told him the Pentagon had been hit). First rumors were that planes were being hi-jacked and crashed into important national symbols. I thought of Disney World in Orlando where my husband’s plane was headed; I know it’s not important in a political or historic way, but it does have symbolic value as part of America. I couldn’t make contact with my husband for hours and was frantic because there was no specific news about what planes were still missing and where they had been heading. When I finally heard from him, I was weak with relief. Then, like everyone else, I was glued to CNN for the rest of the day. Hard to believe it’s been ten years; the little girl I was quizzing on spelling words that morning is in college now.
You have such vivid memories, Deb! I remember the initial disbelief when I saw the Twin Towers on fire (just like Bob Edwards) and I can remember listening to NPR as I drove home after classes were cancelled. But the rest of 9/ll is a blur.
We canceled Bouchercon too, George, though later on I wish we had gone. We stayed out of Manhattan as long as possible and didn’t go past Ground Zero for a long, long time. Even as far away from Manhattan as we are here, there were pictures up everywhere. Quite a few victimes lived in Bay Ridge, as the memorial street signs attest.
I wanted to attend that BOUCHERCON in Washington, D. C., Jeff. But things were chaotic back then. Everyone expected more terrorist attacks. Diane, Patrick, and Katie all had reservations about me flying to D.C. so I bowed to their concerns.
Jackie made a good point. To some extent, yes we are safer. I don’t think you’ll see anyone hijack a jumbo jet and fly it into a building. But though security is better in some ways there are so many holes – small planes, shipping, etc.
I worry about our food supply, Jeff. It would be very easy to introduce toxins to cause massive damage.