Eight years ago, my Nathan was a mere 4½ months old when my mom called to ask if I was watching the TV. “No,” I told her as I lifted Nathan out of bed and moved toward the living room. I knew by the tone of her voice that something urgent was going on. “An airplane has just crashed into the World Trade Center,” she said. “It’s terrible.”
I turned on our set and was stunned by the terrible image of one of the towers with a gaping, elongated hole slashed across the upper floors. Then, right before my eyes, I saw another plane proceed to plow into the other tower. An involuntary scream came out of my mouth, and I tried to muffle my horror to keep from upsetting my baby.
An awful, awful day unfolded. The whole country wanted to embrace New Yorkers and make it all better. In the coming days, people from every state gave money and time, hoping to help in some small way.
Mississippians never imagined a day would come when we would feel the kindness of our countrymen in much the same way that New Yorkers did. In fact, some of New York’s fine firefighters have paid it forward by personally delivering Christmas gifts to children affected by Katrina. Thanks, guys. We’ll never forget you. And we’ll always remember 9-11.
September 11th, 2009 at 10:27 am
I had phone calls from out of state relatives that day. My mother in law asked me if I was afraid. I hadn’t thought of being afraid. I was stunned, but not particularly frightened. New York City is almost six hours away from where we live. One of the most eerie things was the absolute silence in the skies.
September 11th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
I remember that moment in much the same way, I too screamed out loud when the second plane hit . . . that was the exact moment I realized everything had changed. When I called my father panicking, (after the pentagon was hit) not knowing whether I should go get the kids from school, I asked my father, “What’s happening?! What do I do?” and he said (I’ll never forget the sound of his voice), “This is what it feels like to be at war, baby.” In a strange way that statement was comforting, in the sense that it defined a feeling I had never felt before. I had a new respect for my father that day, knowing he had fought in Germany/France after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. That fact had new meaning for me. God Bless America.