A TRIBUTE TO 9/11

[ndavis021410]

But with it comes the joy of a single, caring act. With it comes the honor of participating in a generous process in which one rises each day and does what one can. With it comes the simple, singular grace of being an instrument of Love, in whatever form, to whatever end.

-Ram Dass

We will bring the Terrorists to Justice; or we will bring Justice to the Terrorists. Either way, Justice WILL BE DONE.

George W. Bush on 9/11.....

Thank you My Shy for the video......

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le3uSDfU5V0


Let's use this thread to reflect. To share. To remember.

To tell each other where we were at the moment we found out. The feelings we are now experiencing....LET'S REMEMBER....

Love Nancy

[beachgirl]

I love you Nancy and Shy! Thank you for doing this beautiful thing.

I was at home with my 1 year old watching Barney on PBS totally oblivious to the world when my mom called to tell me what happened. I remember seeing the first tower fall. I just knew the world was ending as we knew it. Horrible! I made my husband come home and went to my moms to just be together. I think the world shut down that day. I will always remember that day. I'm sure we all will.

[FlyIntoOblivion]

Beautiful work, Shy, as always.

I was at school...it was my second week of high school. I don't think you understand at that age(even the seniors of high school didn't get it, either) what happened that day. Life went on as normal in my school. I wonder if even the teachers understood how deeply that moment would impact our world.

[Hoot]

This subject is always so hard for me. What a terrible and horrifying time that was.

When I found out about the attacks, I was alone in my bedroom watching Good Morning America. It was my daughter's first day of preschool...her first day of school ever. Sadly I'll never forget when she started school now, and for a horrible reason. I was also pregnant with my son at the time. The days that followed made me think about raising my daughter in this crazy world...and the new life we were soon going to bring into the world.

I didn't know anyone directly who died in the events of that day, but a girl who was on one of the planes lived right down the street from me. Her parents still lived there, and I felt an overwhelming sense of sadness every time I passed their house.

What a sad, sad day in our history.

[DG]

Great work Shy

[suzy]

What a thoughtful idea Nancy and Shy...

I remember I had returned home from dropping my daughter off at pre-school and my phone was ringing. It was my husband's parents crying on the phone telling me to turn on the TV...then I saw...what I thought couldn't have been be real. My mother and father in-law were screaming into the phone..."was it him?? was it him??!!....I sad no. It wasn't him. It wasn't your son, it wasn't my husband.... then I went straight to the bedroom where my husband was sleeping, soundly. It was then that I broke down and kissed him and hugged him and cried..... my husband was an American Airlines pilot who flew that route in that plane regularly. I thank God it wasn't on that day.

Sadly my husband and I learned later on that day that our very dear friends (a pilot and flight attendant) had lost their niece, who had been like a daughter to them since they didn't have children of their own. She was 28 years old and was working on the United flight that crashed into the twin tower. She had become a flight attentant only nine months prior to September 11th. Just devastating news.

To this moment my heart goes out to all of the families who have suffered a loss....and to all those whose lives (which is all of ours) are forever changed in so many personal ways.

[ndavis021410]

I was driving down the road, going to a friends house. Hadn't put on the TV that morning at all....I remember a SENSE of wrongness...Then the radio dude broke in with the horrible realization that the World Trade Centers in New York City was falling....I'm like WHAT?....I pulled over, turned around, and immediately went home...

America changed that day. We became a stronger people, more resolve, and more fight. The TERRORISTS DID NOT WIN, nor will they EVER....Terror is all about fear, and stopping your lives to abide by that rule of fear...They were sadly mistaken to think America would change out of fear....

Love ya all, and I hope this thread either helps, or pulls some comfort to each of ya all....Love Nancy

[rockfan]

A very moving tribute, Nancy and Shy.

I heard about it as I was walking out the door to a PTA fundraising meeting at my son's school. A friend called me and asked if I had the TV on and told me a plane just crashed into the World Trade Center tower. I was in shock but had to go to that meeting. After I got to school, the librarian had her TV on and saw when the second plane hit. They told us not to talk about it or the kids would get scared. I was in shock and very scared the whole day.

The day after, I found out that one of my neighbor's brother was at the WTC on a floor above where the plane hit and had no way of escaping. He was there on a business trip. It was very heartbreaking to hear and all the neighbors pitched in money to donate to his family.

[Stiletto]

Thank you Nancy and Shy..............

[keysunset]

I was at my youngest's preschool, volunteering in the school office. When the phone rang and my husband told me increduously that someone had flown a plane into one of the WTC towers. No one knew at that point what in the world...

Very quickly a group of us parents, gathered in a room of the church where there was a tv and just watched, mostly silently, looking at each other with dumbounded tears as events unfolded.

At some point, I just couldn't handle all the feelings and emotions and went back into the preschool office to work.

The days following were surreal: there is a fire/rescue station on my walk to my oldest's school. We would pass firefighters as we came and went, out in the streets with their empty boots taking up collections. People waiting for children talked about their emotions. People all over my city gathering in prayer/grief groups.

And the quiet. There is an airport near us and the skies were so quiet. I was walking home from the school on the day they let the first flight take off from the airport since the attacks. I just stood and watched, it felt so strange, and prayed.

Lots of prayers, lots of prayers, that day, the following days, in the years since ...

[Mad For Martay]

This day is forever etched in our minds......
I had just sent two of my boys out the door to school.....I had just sat down to feed my then 6 month old baby boy....I popped on the TV....I was watching the Today show...what I saw was something that I thought was an accident....but how? How did such an accident happen....that was the question going through my mind.....and then I saw the second plane hit....I was horrified to witness such terror.....then the reports start coming out that it wasnt an accident....My brother in law had called to tell me what was going on....he is a Marine....at that time was when he said there were a couple more planes that had been hijacked......
soon after that phone call came the Pentagon and United Flight 93........I remeber walking out my front door totaly numb to the world around me.....I walked up the street and removed my two kids from school....called my husband to come home....because in my mind if this was going to be the end of the world.....I wanted to be with my family.......
On the way home from work my husband recieved a phone call from a friend of ours......he was trapped inside The World Trade Center.....his voice would just send shivers down your spine....to listen to horror in his voice....after a few minutes the phone went dead and that was the last we ever heard from him...he was gone with the rest of them.........
This day all Americans should remember 9/11....not just today but everyday....for it has changed our nation as we know it....

[ShyNoMore]

I was about 5 years old when President Kennedy was killed. I remember my mom watching TV non-stop that day. I didn't understand the importance of it, but I knew something bad had happened to make her so upset.

On Sept. 11th, I wasn't watching TV at the time. I had check the news earlier to see what had happened overnight, then turned it off. My mom called to see if I was watching, and I turned it on to see the towers start falling. My husband was on business in northern Virginia, and I was worried because sometimes he has meetings at the Pentagon. I couldn't get hold of him all day because the phones were so jammed, but thankfully he wasn't there that day. I thought for sure the schools would let out early, but they didn't. My son, who was in high school at the time, was in a computer lab and brought up as much information as he could, so he knew all about it by the time he got home. We live near an Air Force base, so there was a lot of loud military activity in the sky that day.

[klly]

Thanks Shy. Today has been weighing on me as well.

On Sept 11, 2001, I was getting ready for a 10:00 hearing. I saw a plane fly into the world trade center on the Today show. I remember thinking that the pilot must have been drunk. I thought it was a small plane, not a commericial airliner. Then I saw the other plane hit. I remember seeing people jumping out the windows to their death. On my way to the courthouse, I heard that one of the towers was falling. I couldn't stop crying. At the courthouse, chaos was ensuing, rumors, etc. We heard that we were being invaded, that the pentagon had blown up, that they were going to hit the white house. We were all in shock.

I tried to go to work after court. I kept watching the television in our conference room and could not stop crying. I went home and watched television for two days straight. The pictures of the planes going into the buildings just kept playing over and over. The depression was massive.

Then the stories of hope started to emerge. Stories about the firefighters and police dying to save other peoople. Stories about other people saving the lives of strangers. The children who were reunited with their parents. I'm so grateful for those stories. They were the only thing that dragged me off the couch and got me to start functioning again.

There's a heaviness in the air today. My thoughts and prayers go out to all the families of the victims of September 11.

[mcmaniac]

Iwas working in an elementary school at the time. When we heard what had happened we also were told not to say anything to the kids. I just wanted to be home with my family. I just remember being in total shock that day and for several days after. I live in the midwest, small town, so wasn't concerned for my safety, but felt so heartsick for all of the people involved. And now because these stupid, insane attacks so many more lives have been lost. It's not right. It still makes me so sad that I can't re-watch all of the events that took place. To any of you that may have lost friends or family, I am so so sorry, I wish there was something I could do for you personally.

Sorry I couldn't put a more positive spin on this. It's just the way I feel.

But, I do know that Americans are strong and we still have our children to raise and our lives go on. I don't dwell on the bad things but when they are brought to my attention it does make me very sad. But life goes on and we must live it to the fullest.

[greeneyes]

Confusion, then disbelief, then sorrow... that's what I remember most vividly, the emotional ride. The evening prior to 9/11, my stepbrother, T, passed away. Already dealing with that... I wake up to see thousands of lives destroyed, not just my family's. I did not personally know any victims but I mourned for them and for their families. It all still breaks my heart until this day and I'm sure it always will. At T's funeral, it felt as if 3000 people were being buried along with him. I hope the families affected take some comfort in knowing that their loved ones are thought of often by many people, even those who didn't know them.

[Mad For Martay]

The Day We Will Never Forget


The World Trade Center

The Pentagon

United Flight 93

[raeski]

I'm in the very same spot that I was five years ago, except
it was on a Tuesday. I work the front desk outpatient/admissions
at our hospital. Tuesdays are always the busiest day of the
week. Several people were coming into the atrium excitedly
saying to turn on the TV, turn on the TV... a plane has just hit
the WTC! I never had the TV on in the atrium by my desk, too
distracting. Someone immediatley turned it on and everyone in
line at my desk, and people on their way out, and coming in, all
stopped to see what the commotion was. It took a bit for it
to sink in... what was actually happening. I could feel tears
rolling down my cheeks, trying to maintain a bit of professionalism
at the front desk. There were feelings of fear, of helplessness,
of utter disbelief. I thought of a friend living in NYC - his birthday
is 9/11.... I tried unsuccessfully to make phone contact, but was
relieved to learn thru other friends in the Midwest he was on the
road working and far removed from the tragedy.

The tragedies of 9/11 left me feeling so many emotions, but none
so more than - what can I do to help.

[rachael]

I was substitute teaching for a 1st grade class and took them to P.E. and a friend of mine who was also substituting told me about it. I was stunned and in disbelief, but had to remain calm all day for the students. Some parents picked up their children early.
Then when I went home, I was able to be with my family and hug each one very tightly. We went through so many emotions. Too many to describe.
We will never forget.

[LisaC670]

Thank you for the rememberances. Please remember those that died that day and those that still fight to ensure our freedom.


In special memory of Marni Pont-O'Doherty - WTC

[ndavis021410]

Thank you everyone for contributing, and for sharing their moments. Thanks my Shy for putting this video together so well. Later all