An Inadequate Post To Express How I Feel.
I fear late-night or early morning phone calls. To me, either one is a sure sign of bad news on the other end. An 11pm phone call many years ago informed me that my dad was being rushed to the hospital, where he would die four days later. A couple of years prior to that, a 6am call to tell me that my aunt had passed away. And when a friend called close to midnight six years ago it was through tears that she told me the awful news that her teenage son had been shot and killed.
I had a bad feeling when the phone rang at 6 am on September 11, 2001. It was my mom, telling us to turn on the tv because something horrible was happening. It was an unbelievable, terrifying, sad day.
What was the moment you became aware of what was unfolding that morning?
(Oh, and a little while later, as we were watching the towers fall? Another call came in, this one from a client wondering how soon I could get those logos over to her. As I said, unbelievable and sad.)
My heart goes out to all of you who lost loved ones on that tragic day.
I was woken up by a phone call, too. By friends in NY. What an awful day.
ReplyDeleteI was driving into work and listening to the radio when I heard the coverage. It was very surreal. It took me several minutes to digest what was happening. At first I thought it was a small commuter plane. I called my husband at home and he turned on CNN. We didn't have a TV at my office but everyone crowded around a radio. Our vp let us go home early so we could be with our families as none of us felt like working any way. I was pregnant with our first daughter and kept wondering what kind of world were we bringing her into? What an unbelievably sad day that was.
ReplyDeleteI'm one of the lucky ones who didn't lose anyone. Although...
ReplyDeleteIn a way, though, didn't we all really lose something? All those people torn from the fabric of society? So sad.
I was in the child care center- with 120 children. Who we protected from knowing anything about that day. No TV, No radio. I handed story tapes to families for the rides home. We shielded our babies from this for as long as we could. I vowed never to watch the coverage with Emily in the room. She was 3.
ReplyDeleteI am thankful for the children in my care that day. They reminded me that when the world ends...it doesn't.
I'm in the same time zone and had no idea what was going on. I'll never forget that phone call...
ReplyDeletei was awake but hadn't turned on the radio or T.V. so had no idea that anything was amiss. I got a phone call from a friend who was wondering if I'd "Heard from my brother" who lives in NY, but didn't understand what she was talking about until I turned on CNN. Thankfully, my brother was fine. What a sad day for us all.
ReplyDeleteI hate the phone. Nothing good ever comes from answering it. I was on the phone holding my six month old daughter and listened as a friend described what was happening.
ReplyDeleteAll the stories from that day are so tragic and sad. The ones about loved ones making last calls from the planes/buildings make me totally break down.
ReplyDeleteI was in class that day, my senior year of college, and I - as many people did - thought it must've been a small Cessna that had crashed first. But then with each break we had during this monster 4 hour class, we'd try to log onto CNN to get more info. Our school didn't close; every other university in the city did. I sat in the coffee shop watching one of the TVs they'd set up for us and cried as I watched the coverage.
I was at home...
ReplyDeleteand I was looking for a show for my daughter to watch...
My stomach sank and my daughter who was all of three asked why was her uncle's city 'milking'?
Her word for smoking was milking...
and I knew I had to put on her show and race to the phone...I had to hear his voice...
While getting the kids ready for school, my then 13 y/o (step) daughter was listening to the radio in the bathroom while she primped in front of the mirror and yelled out "what does hijacking mean?" I asked her "why?" and she said because they were talking about it on the radio. It wasn't until I got everyone in the car and I started hearing for myself that I understood the magnitude of what happened.
ReplyDeleteI was at work and found it unbelievable and sad that they wouldn't let us go home. I guess they didn't think it was momentous enough to allow us to leave our desks that day.
ReplyDeleteI was at work that day with my coworkers watching in horror the unfolding events. My boss at the time told us to quite watching tv and to get to work. She said, "What's the big deal? Its not like YOU guys can do anything about it.
ReplyDeleteShe went back into her office only to return to her online shopping...
So yeah, I know what you mean.
I think you are right about those off-hour phone calls. That has happened to me a few times.
ReplyDeleteThere were lots of phone calls that morning and I had worked late the night before, so I was trying to sleep in. At first, I was getting angry at the early phone calls, by the 3rd one, I knew something was up.
ReplyDeleteI was coming out of my bedroom, just as my housemate was coming to wake me.
So, we sat and watched in horror. My brother is an airline pilot and flies up to the Northeast quite often, so we waited to hear some more news.
I could barely move that day...everything seemed senseless to do.