Remembering September 11th

[Bens Momma]

My thoughts and prayers go out to those who lost friends & loved ones on Sept. 11. It forever changed us as country and should never be forgotten. Out of curiousity, do you do anything to commemorate it each year (ie light a candle, volunteer work, fly a flag, go to church, etc?)

[TraciG]

Thank you, you just reminded me, I want to hang up a Flag on my apt door.

[buddyleebaby]

:candle: In memory of FDNY Paramedic Carlos Lillo

[Ceepa]

And it's a cool clear day here like it was in 2001. Makes me think of that day even more.

[lmintzer]

I was just tearing up reading the New York Times on-line's coverage from this morning.

My older son's school does a 9/11 commemoration each year. They keep it very general and appropriate for school-aged kids. Reading of a poem, talking about the heroes of the day, and singing America the Beautiful. I stopped over after dropping my little one at preschool. It was good to take some time to stop and think.

Planes were flying lower than normal this a.m., and parents outside the school noticed it. I wonder why . . . maybe a safety thing?

[jhrabosk]

I live directly across the river and used to love seeing the buildings at sunset during the summer...

Every year, they light two giant spotlight beams at Ground Zero. I like to go down to the river in the evening and spend a few minutes sitting and looking at them.

[octmom]

:candle:

duplicate post

[octmom]

:candle:

My kids' school asks that everyone wear red, white, and blue today, but I don't think they discuss anything about 9/11 with the preschoolers. They probably do with the upper elementary school classes.

[pb&j]

I live directly across the river and used to love seeing the buildings at sunset during the summer...

Every year, they light two giant spotlight beams at Ground Zero. I like to go down to the river in the evening and spend a few minutes sitting and looking at them.

I was the captain on a flight from LGA on the six-mo anniversary when they first lit the pillars of light. We were just taxiing out, it was very emotional. It reminded me far too much of the worklights of Ground Zero that I had seen while flying the NE corridor at night. But I still think the pillars of light are a very fitting memorial.

[pinkmomagain]

And it's a cool clear day here like it was in 2001. Makes me think of that day even more.


It's so weird....whenever it's a clear, crisp day here in NY, I ALWAYS think "This is what it was like on 9/11".....It's funny how the weather that day made such a strong impression on me.

By me today, though, it's pretty cloudy :-(

[lorinick]

:candle:

My kids' school asks that everyone wear red, white, and blue today, but I don't think they discuss anything about 9/11 with the preschoolers. They probably do with the upper elementary school classes.


Our school did the same with wearing red, white and blue plus asks for 1.00 or for the 911 family fund.

[psophia17]

I live directly across the river and used to love seeing the buildings at sunset during the summer...

Every year, they light two giant spotlight beams at Ground Zero. I like to go down to the river in the evening and spend a few minutes sitting and looking at them.

I was living in SI at the time, and changed trains at the WTC that morning. I got to work 10 minutes early, and would've been in the WTC when the first plane hit if I'd been on my usual schedule.

Today is a hard day for me. I wish I could see the spotlights. I watched the night they were first lit, and cried.

I hope none of us ever, ever has to need to hold our children as tight as my Mom held me when I made my way home two days later. I wish she'd never needed to hold me that tight.

[rlu]

We're in red, white and blue today.

I didn't work that day - I had called in before leaving and my boss advised they sent everyone home. From my window cube I would often watch the planes departing SJC, it was so odd, disquieting, to not see them the days after.

I used to read a bulletin board, hosted by a lady in Canada close to NY, and reading the string from 9/11 as people posted as the day progressed and the news got worse and worse, you could feel the horror as several of the posters could not locate friends/family who were ultimately lost. That has stayed with me as part of my 9/11 experience. Every year I think of them and revisit Sar's first hand account at Tomato Nation. She's posts every year her thoughts on the anniversary.

http://tomatonation.com/?p=593

Hugged my son tight this morning.

[fortato]

I was a preschool teacher the year it happened. (The weather today is EXACTLY like it was that day.) I didn't hear the news until parents started coming in to pick up their kids and I remember thinking how lucky the kids were to be able to enjoy the rest of the day... then I found out what happened. The school secretary told me that "A kamikaze pilot had flown into the WTC in New York". I didn't think it was as serious as it was. I got the rest of the story when I was in the music room with another teacher, and we listend to the news on the radio, and let the kids play.

My husband called me at work and said that he wasn't being sent home, but the company is really pushing for them to leave... it was their choice but, the company was advising them to go. (He works in the defense industry).

We put up our flag and light a candle.

This is the first time I have one of those memories that I can say "I remember where I was when__________ happened". Like our parents with the Moon landing or when Kennedy was shot. I wish it were a happy memory.

[elektra]

For Chandler (Chad) Keller, passenger on AA flight 77.
:candle:

[clb]

The weather that day is one of my clearest memories too.

[shilo]

peace. to the family and friends, to all of us with memories of the day, to the world that mourns with us, and even those who don't. peace.

lori

[Emmas Mom]

It's the one other memory I have with perfect clarity as to where I was & what I was doing, as far as tragedies go. The other is the Challenger explosion. On 9/11/01 I was getting ready for work, I turned on the TV for some reason but didn't normally do that in the morning. It just seemed so surreal to me, like it couldn't really be happening. DH & I had only been married a couple months. I remember going to work but no one ever actually working that day, just huddled around the TV. I remember some lady calling me & I actually said to her "do you have any idea what's happening today?" I think that day forever changed those of us who were able to comprehend the horror of what had happened. That day I knew there was true evil in the world & it's always in the back of my mind now...it could happen again. Though I hope & pray it never does. And hope & pray for peace for us all.

[shelikesmorningglories]

peace. to the family and friends, to all of us with memories of the day, to the world that mourns with us, and even those who don't. peace.

lori
Are you saying that you wish peace to those who do not mourn the tragic event of 9/11 with us?Please clarify

[JMS]

Are you saying that you wish peace to those who do not mourn the tragic event of 9/11 with us?Please clarify

I think she is simply wishing for world peace. I'm sorry Lori if I'm misinterpreting you. I think your sentiment was beautiful.

[Emmas Mom]

I think she is simply wishing for world peace. I'm sorry Lori if I'm misinterpreting you. I think your sentiment was beautiful.

:yeahthat:

[shilo]

Are you saying that you wish peace to those who do not mourn the tragic event of 9/11 with us?Please clarify


of course i am.

perhaps those who would perpetuate hatred and harm on their fellow man are those i wish it for hardest.

peace doesn't really need any clarification though, does it.

lori

[KpbS]

It's so weird....whenever it's a clear, crisp day here in NY, I ALWAYS think "This is what it was like on 9/11".....It's funny how the weather that day made such a strong impression on me.

Same here....

[firstbaby]

I miss my SIL (died in the attack on the Pentagon). I wish DH, my IL's, her children, my children, all in our lives would not know what it is like without her. I would give any possession for my DH to have one last coversation with her. And one last hug. Thinking of all the other families today with their lost loved ones. It's strange that from NY to DC the weather is the same as it was that day. I still remember that too.

[jayali]

I always go to church in the morning and take DS to school. I was in the South Tower that day, the second one that got hit. I am back to work in lower Manhattan, after being home for 4 years. I always listen to the names. I knew a few people who died that day and for me listening to the names is a way of honoring each one of them. Being downtown on 9/11 brings many emotions with it. Every 9/11 I get together with the same group of people at a friends apartment in Battery Park City, just across from where the towers of light are. We spend the entire night retelling our tales from that day. We always end the night with a walk past Ground Zero and we stop and look at the makeshift memorials. This year there were far less then in years past.

Last year a friend's wife had someone come and videotape us as we did our story telling and this year she gave us the DVD. I just finished watching it and will probably add that to my 9/11 ritual. I worked in the Trade Center for 17 years (my whole career at the time) so very much of my life's memories were tied to the structure. I am very lucky that I made it out that day and am so grateful for that. My heart breaks for the families that weren't as lucky as mine.

This morning Matthew asked me why I was so sad. I get very weepy on 9/11. I told him that I was just having a sad memory. Then I hugged him so tight when I said good-bye to him at school. I think this day will be harder for me once we have to explain to him what happened. I think that he will never know the world pre 9/11 and that makes me really sad for him.

[Globetrotter]

My mom called me to say put on the TV, something has happened in NYC. Wow, I never imagined.

We spent the whole day waiting to hear from friends who got out of Manhattan and/or lived near the city. What a surreal, sad day.

[mommy111]

I miss my SIL (died in the attack on the Pentagon). I wish DH, my IL's, her children, my children, all in our lives would not know what it is like without her. I would give any possession for my DH to have one last coversation with her. And one last hug. Thinking of all the other families today with their lost loved ones. It's strange that from NY to DC the weather is the same as it was that day. I still remember that too.
My heart goes out to you....and all the families like yours who showed such courage in the face of the tragedy and grace following it. I may have the details all wrong, but I was reading recently about a woman who lost a son in the 9/11 attacks and subsequently made it her mission to educate kids in Afghanistan. Wow!!!! I don't think I would have had the grace to rise above such tragedy and bitterness and hatred, I would want to 'take them out' in a very personal way and her compassion in the face of such tragedy truly humbled me.

[daniele_ut]

My BIL worked in the World Trade Center and made it out that day, but his brother and brother's wife did not. Also killed that day was a friend of our family who was fresh out of college and had just started his first job at Cantor Fitzgerald, the company that lost 685 employees. Our family still mourns their loss.

I woke up that morning here in Utah to my clock radio telling me that all flights had been gounded at SLC International. That make me turn on the television, something I rarely ever did in the morning back then. The first image that I saw was the smoke and flames coming out of the towers followed by the video of the first collapse. I remember yelling so loudly that my husband came out of the shower and when I told him what I saw he said I must have been wrong. I called my mother in Hoboken, who was largely hysterical and found out that my BIL was missing. When I talked to my sister she was obviously in shock and told me that she was sure her husband was dead. They had already heard from her BIL and SIL calling to say they were ok and evacuating, but they were never heard from again. Thankfully my BIL did escape, but he's been left with terrible survivors' guilt. It really has colored their lives, and especially their children, ever since. My other sister was standing in her employer's parking lot across the river in Hoboken actually saw the second plane flying over the river and circling around to hit the tower. She got back in her car immediately and picked her kids up from school and went to my mom's. It took a long time before my nephews would fly on an airplane again.