Ten years ago… My four kids and I were visiting friends
A sister friend...that everso important person who has been with you through college, and kids and life...one who is a *sister*...when you never had a true sister.
in New York…
The morning of the 11th…we packed up the car us two mothers with seven kids…and went apple picking.
And then we tried to donate blood.
because we didn’t know what to do.
We were in Albany. 2 hours from NYC.
I remember sleeping in a top bunk that night with my arms around my 9 year old. who would shake and cry every time a plane flew over. Jets circled and protected the area all night long.
I slept holding him for 4 nights.
We were scheduled to see my brother that week…and should have been In the city/NJ on the 11th. But I stole more time with my friend in Albany.
As we drove down toward the City two days later…The intensity of emotion was palpable the closer we got. Flags adorned cars, makeshift flags made of bed sheets were being held from the overpasses. Held by NY youth chanting USA.
It was eerie. It was beautiful. It was surreal.
My brother was on Wall Street that morning, ten years ago.
He was able to walk out of the smoking city…but he lost many friends and colleagues.
I remember his steeled jaw, as we stood on a grassy bank in his town, looking across the Hudson River, at the smoldering embers of where he once worked…where so many were lost. He was numb.
I remember the flyers strewn across his small town asking for donations of many things ...including dog food and dog boots for the rescue dogs.
I remember the silence of a whole town who lost so many.
It was a long and quiet drive back to Florida the next week.
The world had changed while we were gone.
I humbly bow my head in remembrance.
From ashes to hope…
9/11/2011
22 comments:
I remember how that morning played out at work via the phone calls from a good friend on his way to Boston airport for a business trip to the West Coast. "A plane had crashed into the World Center" came the first call. "Another plane has crashed into the World Trade Center" came the second phone call. Nothing made sense. "The planes came from Boston!" came the third phone call.
We had no idea what was happening but we knew it wasn't right. It was evil. "Go home." "Go home!" "Just turn around and go home," I pleaded.
It's a day that will for the rest of my life be solemnly remembered.
I am remembering too. We lost so much on that day & so much has changed since that dreadful day. KP
♥ ♥ ♥
Franka
beautiful post. thank you for sharing. God bless America.
This post is awesome, Linda. You really have a story for the day.
I was in Tampa that day, styling a book shoot in a home where the homeowner had no television. Someone's husband called with the news. We didn't know what else to do so we kept on working while listening to the radio. We didn't get to see the visuals until that evening when we left the house to eat.
Everything changed that day...
Linda~
An amazing post.
xoxoxox
Cricket
oh
my
what a Fine True Story!
what to do!
what to do!
so nearby
with little ones around in tow.
picking apples--->perfection
me?
at 9am
i was on my way to orlando
to fly to italy
for one month of bike~riding
and
cooking~lessons...
well
that never happened
but as i emailed italy
to infor all contacts
i would not,
could not be coming...
ALL hotels, etc,
emailed me the sweetest words
of sympathy & support...
NONE charged me a penny
on my charge card...
weeks later
i was still receiving emails
from hotel managers
i had never met
and
would never see,
sending me encouraging prayers...
i was so amazed by this.
still am.
the international outpouring
to ME!
my heart is moved tenderly
by the gracious actions
of so many after 9/11.
thank you
for this heart~felt posting...
♥
Thank you for sharing such a heartfelt and personal story.
So glad that you weren't in the City with your kids that day. Glad your brother was okay. I am sure he will never forget that awful day. It did change the world we live in for sure.
Oh...you all bring tears to my eyes...we are not unlike a quilt, pieced together with each of our journey's and memories that day.
We ARE all changed.
Oh girl this post made me teary. I can't imagine being any where near the city during that time. I can only imagine how scared you must have been. My big chick was just a baby. I'll never forget where I was and what I was doing when it happened.
Beautiful post, Linda. I will NEVER forget. The images are in my mind's eye forever. I cry for all those that were lost and their families and friends. I cry for our lost innocents that was torn from this wonderful country. I cry remembering.
anon Susan
Such a touching memory and tribute. It puts everything in perspective, doesn't it?
great post... it's amazing that 10 yrs have gone by!
That must have been so scary. A friend of mine was on a vacation with this family and was scheduled to visit the towers that morning but his parents let the kids sleep in. Thank God. I received a birthday call from him the day before on a pay phone and tried to call the number back after the towers went down, but no one answered.
Linda, I posted my memories of that day on my Blog, too. The urge to verbalize our memories of that day must never be ignored - somehow, it is so very, very important that we keep doing that...the small personal details must never be lost, they are the reasons we do what we do today. God rest the souls of all who were lost or damaged on Sept.11.
Thank you for sharing your story Linda. I too have been thinking back...recording memories in my journal.
x..x
Great post Linda! Thanks for sharing these personal moments with us. It was so overwhelming for us all the way over here in Australia so it's impossible to imagine how difficult it was for you being so close by and directly affected. All the best, Tracey xx
Beautifully done Linda. So interesting to hear these stories.
Thank you.
Thanks for sharing your story. I remember where I was and what I was doing and wearing that day, just like I still remember those details with the space shuttle accidents. Seems like it was just yesterday.
I made it here via Becky's blog. I wish I'd known about you sooner. I prepared a 9-11 brief program over the loudspeaker (2 students read)and set up a display in our display case in the school lobby. I wss wanting reactions and remembrances of that day. I did get some and they all impacted me--I was grateful to those who responded. But yours esp. moved me. Wonderful tribute post to a horrific time.
i have been awol and trying to get back into the blog swing when i have net access, i was just reading through your month, this post brought me to tears... a powerful remembrance~
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