Sidebar Discussion

Well Done 99 said:

No thanks necessary bayouland. I've never done anything as brave as those guys on 9/11.
As is Concerned Papa, I'm looking forward to hearing the accounts and memories of other WS'ers. It will certainly be interesting to know what we were all doing 'together' on that day.

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I remember 9/11/01 like it was yesterday. At that time I would get up around 5:30AM to get ready for work. I had my TV on and saw the news of a plane crashing into one of the World Trade Center buildings. My brother called me on the phone and asked if I was watching the news. Yes I was. I told him that I remembered that a B25 bomber had hit the Empire State Building in 1945 and maybe something similar had just happened. But I recalled that crash happened in dense fog, it was clear as a bell from what I could see today.Maybe a pilot of a small plane had a heart attack? My brother and I were talking things like this over when the second plane hit. I said this is no accident. This was a deliberate act. We broke off are conversation and I finished getting ready for work.I got to my truck, turned on the radio just when the first tower fell.I was the first one to work and I had brought a small black and white TV with me from home. Back then the internet and live streaming were a bit primitive. So I plugged in that little TV at my counter/work station and watched the events unfold. As coworkers arrived we all huddled around that small TV and watched the second tower fall. It was very hard to get anything done that day. A day I will never forget.

sleutherontheside said:

Reading these posts brings memories rushing back to me. I'll try to connect my post to the topic at hand in an effort to stay OT.

On 9/11/01 I had a child that had been born 9 weeks early in the NICU of our hospital. I just went back and found my journal entries for that day and the next.... I thought I would share with you.

9/11/01 Weight 3# 5 oz
Mommy rushed to get here for your 8:30 AM feeding. I was able to watch your nurse Becky take your vitals and I got to change your diaper. i held you and rocked you in my arms until you fell asleep. When you are able to take 1700 cc's they will be able to move you our of your incubator.

9/12/01
This morning we got a call from your Doctor. You are not doing well and have some sort of infection. We have spent all day with you and hope to know what is going on soon. You are having a hard time breathing and the nurse said you may have to get some help with a respirator.

9/13/01
The doctors have you on heavy antibiotics. they have given you morphine to make you more comfortable. You are septic and have called in a specialist to identify what is making you so sick.


The events of 9/11/01 impacted us greatly......I recall asking the NICU staff to explain their evacuation plan in case of an act of terrorism. I could not imagine life without our child.

I wonder if KC ever had those feelings?

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My son wasn't born for 2 more months ,but the entry could be identical. Those phone calls : (

I think almost everyone had a connection to 9/11 .My Son -In-Law's sister worked in the Towers and we didn't know for hours what happened to her. She was late that day and had just gotten off the ferry when people coming from the scene told her to go back.

I also work in DC about once a month. Several of my co-workers and my BIL live in the neighborhood just a few blocks behind the Capitol BLDG.They have stories of walking around ,just in tears ( grown men),not knowing what would happen. It's chilling and we talk about it often. It was a defining moment for all.

There are names that have become well known as heroes that day ,like Todd Beamer , but so many others ,whose names we will never know ,who's acts of kindness and courage have gone unseen,also died that day .

I doubt if was even a blip on Casey's radar.

Wow
I was shopping a few weeks ago for my new little niece Ella and saw some cute WTP dresses . I didn't even realize it but I was standing there with my eyes filling up .
I'm sorry Winnie but I still can't look at you right now .

There were so many heroes that day .

~Never Forget~​

9/11/2001​

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsCp5LG_zNE"]Celtic Woman - Amazing Grace - YouTube[/ame]

Concerned Papa said:

I, for one, would like to be able to use our Sidebar thread for the next 24 hours in remembrance of September 11, 2001.

Somehow, I feel more compelled to talk with my friends about that day than Casey Anthony or her family.

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It was a day like no other...bright blue sky...the type of day you wish you could bottle...it was that beautiful outside. Then the horror of it all...the smoke...not knowing who was safe...and who was gone.
Ten years later and I still cry for those we lost.
We remember.

runsdeep said:

for anyone who has not read...can search new york times transcripts south north tower and of all flights. chilling.

and...the people who evacuated, went down avg of 30+ floors (hard enough on the legs) then had to walk home (no subway, cars, phone svc).

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When the North Tower was hit, the alarms went off in the South Tower. People exited the building (like a fire drill)...only to be given the all clear to go back.

Aedrys said:

Sorry about my post. It didn't seem right for the mood of thread at the moment. A drawback of seeing one hundred posts per page is that I didn't realize the mood had become more somber. So sorry about that.

I am glad golf delayed the Anthony BS for one more day. Thank God Sept. 11th can't be ruined by the A's. I would have totally lost it if their interview was the same day. Thankfully, it's now two days later. And I am not even going to think about the A's tomorrow. They will not overshadow such an important and tragic day in US history.

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Not THAT US Open...it's the OTHER one...the grand slam tennis event.
This post made me smile Thanks...I needed it!

I was getting my son ready for school. he was 6 at the time. my friend from work called me and screamed out something that sounded like highjackedplaneintoworldtradecenter. I had not been awake more then 15 minutes or so. I stupidly said what world trade center. what she was saying didnt make any sense. she said there were two more planes highjacked. again, stupidly, I said so? she wasnt making any SENSE. she said turn on the news!!!

I turned on the news in time to see the second plane hit. maybe they were re-showing the footage and it had already hit, I still dont know. I dropped the phone. it was green, a cordless. I remember the metallic green of the phone and the footage on the news, over and over. I was so shocked I couldnt see any colour in the tv, only black and white.

we didnt live far from the airport. nothing was allowed to fly that day. no one was outside. it was silent in a way I never heard before or since. there were flags at half-mast everywhere I looked. our area had a large population of middle easterns. the shops owned by them were flying the biggest US flags of all. my ex called them insurance. it made me laugh but it wasnt true. they were as crushed as everyone else.

three weeks later I saw ground zero. the dust hadnt settled yet, you couldnt even tell time had passed. everyone around it was quiet and somber. there were flags everywhere. there were broken hearts everywhere.

MissJames said:

My son wasn't born for 2 more months ,but the entry could be identical. Those phone calls : (

I think almost everyone had a connection to 9/11 .My Son -In-Law's sister worked in the Towers and we didn't know for hours what happened to her. She was late that day and had just gotten off the ferry when people coming from the scene told her to go back.

I also work in DC about once a month. Several of my co-workers and my BIL live in the neighborhood just a few blocks behind the Capitol BLDG.They have stories of walking around ,just in tears ( grown men),not knowing what would happen. It's chilling and we talk about it often. It was a defining moment for all.

There are names that have become well known as heroes that day ,like Todd Beamer , but so many others ,whose names we will never know ,who's acts of kindness and courage have gone unseen,also died that day .

I doubt if was even a blip on Casey's radar.

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BBM - I have been watching a lot of the docudrama's and shows dedicated to 911 and have been amazed and overwhelmed at all of the acts of heroism and compassion on that day. So many stories of friends, coworkers and strangers risking life and limb to help their fellow man out of those buildings. I rarely cry but I will admit to crying when hearing these stories of how people were so willing to help, carry, crawl, drag strangers down and out of a burning building. Heros all of them. They make me very proud to be an American. On a day that all I want to do is forget the evil, tragedy and the horrific images, all I can do is remember the stories of love, empathy and compassion.

2goldfish said:

I was getting my son ready for school. he was 6 at the time. my friend from work called me and screamed out something that sounded like highjackedplaneintoworldtradecenter. I had not been awake more then 15 minutes or so. I stupidly said what world trade center. what she was saying didnt make any sense. she said there were two more planes highjacked. again, stupidly, I said so? she wasnt making any SENSE. she said turn on the news!!!

I turned on the news in time to see the second plane hit. maybe they were re-showing the footage and it had already hit, I still dont know. I dropped the phone. it was green, a cordless. I remember the metallic green of the phone and the footage on the news, over and over. I was so shocked I couldnt see any colour in the tv, only black and white.

we didnt live far from the airport. nothing was allowed to fly that day. no one was outside. it was silent in a way I never heard before or since. there were flags at half-mast everywhere I looked. our area had a large population of middle easterns. the shops owned by them were flying the biggest US flags of all. my ex called them insurance. it made me laugh but it wasnt true. they were as crushed as everyone else.

three weeks later I saw ground zero. the dust hadnt settled yet, you couldnt even tell time had passed. everyone around it was quiet and somber. there were flags everywhere. there were broken hearts everywhere.

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BBM- I live about as far away from NYC that one can get but I do remember the silence that day. It was if people were afraid to talk above a whisper, something else might happen. It was if time had slowed down. The silence, was powerful.

I was working in the hospital, I am a nurse in the Cardiac Cath Lab, where they do angiograms. I was aware of what was happening, and had seen glimpses on TV if I passed by one that day. We had the stereo on overhead, and the radio was our way of news. There were about 16 nurses, 5 x-ray techs and a handful of doctors there that day. As always, the show must go on in the hospital. But as often as we could we cried, we hugged, we comforted each other. We each were allowed to call home and check on loved ones.
I was also struggling at that time, with the empty and worried feelings a mother has when their firstborn goes away. And this unspeakable terror! She was in college! Far away from home, and far away from my hugs. I had spoke with my husband, my son, my parents and siblings...but I could not get a hold of her until much later that day.
She was fine, and was glued to the common room at school, and being comforted by her new family.

For the husband who told his wife I love you one last time before his plane went down in a field, for the wife who stopped on the stairs to tell her husband I'll love you forever, for the mothers & fathers who kissed their kids goodbye that morning, for the policemen who rushed in with firemen to help others only to lose their lives, for the men & women who continue to fight back & lose their lives. Always remember♥

logicalgirl said:

Hello my peeps - O/T but please say a prayer for missing little red headed three year old Kienan Hebert, missing for three days from a small BC town, feared in the company of a possible pedophile.

This is Day Three of an Amber Alert with a massive province wide alert and search underway - to date no sign of either the possible abductor or little Kienan.

Heartbreaking for these parents and all parents of missing children.

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Blessing My Friends on this day marking such tragedy!

After a televised plea from the parents, begging the suspect to just drop him off somewhere visible, that he is only three and doesn't speak, and can't identify the abductor, I woke to the best of news this morning.

Little Kienan Hebert was returned safely to his parents at 3AM this morning. No details yet available.

My many thanks for you prayers and God Bless America!

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I got up and made coffee. I sat at the computer sipping my first cup while I checked e-mail and played a couple games of Free Cell before leaving for a doctor appointment. I did not have to be at work until 11 AM that day.

That morning was atypical in that I did not turn on the TV. I also did not read any news on the internet. These were things I did every morning without fail yet, for no reason at all I did not do them that morning. So, when I left for my appointment around 9 AM my time, I had no idea what was going on in the world.

Once in the car with the radio on, I heard a story of planes crashing into the World Trade Center. I listened with no emotion at all because I did not believe what I was hearing. The DJs on the radio station I had preset in my car were known for their irreverance and controversy. Everything was a big joke to them and it was pretty much assumed by all that they would stop at nothing to get attention. So, hearing their words that morning really didn't do anything to me at all. I just drove along listening to their comments, their faked somber tones and their attempts to make it sound like they were choking back tears.

After about 15 minutes of it, I started shouting at the radio. Shouting for them to "stop it already." Shouting that jokes and irreverance are OK by me sometimes...but "some things just are not funny!"

But they did not stop. They kept ranting about murder and mayhem and terrorism. I could not take it anymore. I changed the radio station to one with normal people at the mics.

And immediately I knew that nothing would ever be normal again.

As many of you know, I am Canadian - my father was American. I have always loved and supported the USA.

I shake my head in wonder on this day when I hear news commentators say we must never forget. Forget such horror? Horror that feels as real today as it did as I stood for six hours with a group of people I didn't know in front of a random TV downtown, as we watched this tragedy unfold and cried and cried and cried.

I watched a rerun of the first plane on a TV camera on an elevator that usually ran a stockmarket ticker, walked to a coffee shop in the building I worked in just as the second plane hit.

I didn't go back to work for the next two days. Forget such pain, horror and tragedy? Impossible - impossible.......I tried to watch a memorial last night and just couldn't....too painful...still too many tears. God Bless America.

logicalgirl said:

Blessing My Friends on this day marking such tragedy!

After a televised plea from the parents, begging the suspect to just drop him off somewhere visible, that he is only three and doesn't speak, and can't identify the abductor, I woke to the best of news this morning.

Little Kienan Hebert was returned safely to his parents at 3AM this morning. No details yet available.

My many thanks for you prayers and God Bless America!

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[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kt20JwRBw4"]Leann Rimes - Are You Ready for a Miracle? - YouTube[/ame]

Concerned Papa said:

Leann Rimes - Are You Ready for a Miracle? - YouTube

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Thank you Concerned Papa - I hesitated to first post the plea for prayers for this child because we are marking this day for the 9/11 posts and again hesitated to post the news that we have indeed been given a miracle this day.

His parents found him sitting on the family sofa at three this morning - the abductor dropped him off at home and apparently opened the door to the house to let the child in. The abductor has yet to be captured but we have our miracle - this child is safe. Thank you again.

I'll never forget this day either. I was on my way to work at a University computer lab in Hammond, Lousiana, and was trying to find music on my radio. I actually got irritated because I couldn't find any music, and then it hit me that there might be a reason there was no music. I remember stopping on my favorite station, and hearing the panic in one of my favorite radio DJ's voice as he recounted what happened to the Twin Towers that morning. I got to work, and we ended up having to stay there. I remember someone had a radio on loud in a hallway outside the door, and we could listen to it. I also remember every computer having a person in front of it, me included, trying to find out what was going on. I even remember that two people from my favorite TV show were in New York for a scifi convention, and the fan list I was on was worried sick about them (turns out they were not on the same side of New York as the Twin Towers, but still, it was scary).

I remember the panic, the fear, the crappy air condition system of the crap apartment I lived in coming on that night and scaring me half to death because it sounded like a jet engine, and also most TV stations either off the air, news about the attack, or a couple having nonstop programming in case you didn't want to watch about the attack. I even remember hearing Hollywood shut down and DisneyWorld was closed. I remember seeing stories about recovery efforts, and stories about that day, and being so scared and vulvnerable. It is a day I'll never forget for the rest of my life.

Today, I pray for those who lost their lives, those who helped in the recovery including those service dogs, some who literally worked until they died to aide in finding survivors, but most of all, I pray for all of us, not only in the USA, but around the world who were affected by this tragedy.

I also have a friend who was born today, long before it was a tragedy, and I also celebrate her birthday. It's a good reminder to me that this day wasn't always a day of tragedy.

Finally, big hugs to all of my friends here too. I love you guys!!!! Thanks for letting me share this with you!