"Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day?" ~ Alan Jackson
It's been 21 years.
On September 11, 2001, I was finishing my Masters in Education doing my student teaching at Cline Elementary School in Centerville. There was a TV in the teachers' lunchroom and this was our first exposure to the events of the day. It was so hard to go back to the classroom and continue on with our normal afternoon activities but we did. And for the rest of the week my mentoring teacher and I set aside time to discuss whatever was on the students' minds. 5th graders are very insightful.
Many parents came to pick their children up before the end of the school day. Once all of the students were out of the building, the teachers and staff didn't have to wait until our requisite 3:30 leave time. We left immediately. I got home and all my kids were home. All after school events and practices had been cancelled. One of my daughters and I were sitting on the front porch talking and all at once a hot dogging jet pilot from nearby Wright Patterson AFB flew over the house and made a sonic boom. My daughter was terrified. The yards filled up with people wondering what happened. It was a scary moment.
T was scheduled to attend the Mortgage Bankers' Conference and it was in Toronto that year. He had made his flight to Cleveland and was ready to get on his plane to Toronto but it was cancelled. He was able to rent a car and drive back home. Flight 93 was traveling from Newark to San Francisco and made its turnaround close to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. Its intent was to crash into the White House but instead this flight full of brave passengers crashed in rural Pennsylvania at Shanksville.
My dad was hospitalized with some side effects from the chemotherapy to treat his Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. He was unconscious during the 9/11 attacks and was so upset when he heard the news a week later.
This is so New York: taxis, construction, and the Freedom Tower reaching toward the sky and reflecting the world around it.
We were in NYC on September 11, 2015. Walking around the Memorial Park was a humbling and reverent experience. So many tributes and remembrances placed around the reflecting pools.
The Bell of Hope at St. Paul's Chapel in New York City. St. Paul's is directly across from the World Trade Center site, suffered no damage in the September 11 attacks, and served as a staging area for the rescue workers. The Bell of Hope was created by England's Whitechapel Foundry, which also cast the Liberty Bell and London's Big Ben. Every September 11 the Bell of Hope is rung at a ceremony to commemorate 9/11. Never Forget.
No comments:
Post a Comment