9/11-10 years later……..

9/11/01 is a date that will live in the memories of Americans for a very long time, possibly forever.  Many people lost their lives that day during a terrorist attack that rattled the world and many people continue to lose their lives as a result of that day through war and illness.

10 years later that day is still fresh in my mind as if it only happened yesterday.  I remember answering the phones at the doctor’s office I worked at when someone mentioned a plane hit the World Trade Center, we all assumed at the time that it was a small plane, nothing too serious.  I called my husband who was working in the city at the time and he was fine and not too concerned about it.  A few minutes later all hell broke loose, reports of a 2nd plane hitting the other tower of the World Trade Center started coming in and we now knew that this was no accident.  We all went out to the waiting room and turned on the TV only to find out 2 jetliners had hit each tower of the World Trade Center.

At this point it felt like the world just stopped.  I tried to call my husband again but the phones to the city and to cellular phones were unreachable by this time.  The phones in the busy doctor’s office I worked for fell silent as we all watched this horrific day unfold.

Four planes were hijacked that day: 2 planes hit the Twin Towers causing them to collapse within 2 hours of impact; 1 plane crashed into the Pentagon; and the 4th plane went in a field in Pennsylvania missing it’s intended target because it is believed the passengers on this plane heard what happened to the other planes and they fought back.

We watched that day as these events occurred and changed our lives forever.  Phones stopped ringing, planes stopped flying, communication was cut off and we all stopped functioning normally as we watched the towers fall.  My friend Crystal and I rode our bikes up to Rockaway Turnpike at lunchtime where we could see the the city skyline and smoke billowing from where the towers once stood.  The only planes we heard in the sky were fighter jets flying back and forth, I say heard because you could hear them but not see them.

By the end of the day we all just pretty much sat around in shock.  We reached our family members that were in the city by the end of the day and thankfully for us our family members would be coming home that night unlike the 3,000 other people that tragically lost their lives that day.  I personally did not lose anyone that horrible day but my heart breaks for all the families that were directly affected.

I have a beautiful but sad story about 9/11 from my Aunt Alice who came across it while doing research for her family tree and she was nice enough to give me permission to share it on my blog.  Thanks Alice!!!

This is the email that Alice sent to me back in May of this year and it brought tears to my eyes and I want to share it here:

I’ve been working on the family tree, not just mine, but Roger’s also. I’ve been trying to collect some important family photos, items, paintings etc and add them to the person on the family tree that it pertains to.  This was written by Dianne in July 2001, she put it on the refrigerator for her family to see. In September she was killed, she was a flight attendant for American Airlines, in the first plane that hit the twin towers.  Her husband months later found this under the fridge in cleaning.  The note must have fallen and got lost under the fridge.  Dianne was such a beautiful mother, wife, worker;  in this note she makes us think about life, not take it for granted.  She makes us think about how we should be living our lives.  She couldn’t know what was going to happen to her two months later…but for that and what she left us behind to think about……she will never be forgotten.

Here is the letter Dianne wrote:

 

Live life to the fullest;  no one knows what will happen tomorrow

Accept what comes;  use it to master the art of living

Worrying won’t help

Live one day at a time

Share hope with people

Remember there’s a light at the end of the tunnel

No one knows the power of the individual

Keep trying

It’s all right to show emotions

Don’t stop dreaming

God is always there to help

Don’t wait for tragedy, say it today “ I love you and I’m glad your alive”.

Tell the truth

Do your best no matter how trivial the task

Choose the difficult right over the easy wrong

Look out for the group before you look out for yourself

Don’t whine or make excuses

Judge others by their actions and not by their race or other characteristics

 

Written by Dianne July 2001

I didn’t know Dianne but she has touched my heart with this letter.  My thoughts and prayers go out to her family on this day, 10 years is a long time but no matter how many years have past their hearts will always ache for their loved one on this day and every other day.  RIP Dianne, I hope you know that this letter has touched many lives including mine.

 

In August 2000 my husband and I took a cruise to Bermuda and unbeknownst to us this would be the last time we would see the World Trade Center standing.

9/11/01 will be a day I don’t think anyone of will ever forget, we just need to live each day to the fullest and always tell the people we love how we feel because we never know what tomorrow will bring.

 

9/11/01

Never Forget

Tagged as: 9/11/01, The Twin Towers, The World Trade Center