True Woe...

[Plum]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 12:34am

...is listening to "The Bus" while realizing it's September 11th.

Did I mention I get mood swings when I have PMS? Every year the wound gets blurrier around the edges, but it's always just as deep. I think I'm going to cry.

[BT]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 12:36am

Many of us will cry today, Plum.

[Matt_G]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 12:40am

Someone reminded me earlier today that tomorrow was 9/11. Somehow I hadn't even realized it. I can't believe it's been 3 years.

[BT]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 12:51am

Matt, were you in DC at the time? It was a very scary time here, but I'm sure not like it was in NYC. We will be forever changed.

[Matt_G]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 12:54am

No, I was in NYC. I'll tell you my story sometime.

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 12:55am

"Someone reminded me earlier today that tomorrow was 9/11. Somehow I hadn't even realized it. I can't believe it's been 3 years."

Lucky for you, Matt. I'll never forget; it's my birthday. Whoo. I mean, honestly, what do I do? If I celebrate, I feel like a superficial little b*tch, but it's still my birthday, you know?

Updated On: 9/11/04 at 12:55 AM

[Plum]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 12:57am

I had a distant cousin born that day. It's always easy to remember his age. 3 years old now. Updated On: 9/11/04 at 12:57 AM

[bythesword84]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 12:57am

There's no reason to feel like a superficial b!tch for it at all. You have to live your life even though it's really hard.

Its funny you say you can't believe it was 3 years, I feel like it was an eternity ago.

[Matt_G]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 12:59am

That's what I meant. It just seems so long ago, I can't believe it was only 3 years.

[Pip]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 12:59am

Can't imagine what it must have been like to be in NYC that day. Seeing the images on TV were bad enough, but, it must have been horrible for all of you there.

[Matt_G]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 1:01am

It was surreal. That's the best way I, personally, can sum it up.

[bythesword84]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 1:02am

Ohhh I thought you meant that you thought it felt like it was more recent than that.

I actually just had a friend from Michigan ask me what it was like to be in New York that day and I said that I wasn't in the city because I was on Long Island. She wanted to hear how the day was for me anyway so I told her and she was just shocked. It's weird how I was thinking I got a lot less of it than people who were in the city or like my cousin who was one of the first FDNYers there, but compared to other people it was a lot worse.

[BT]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 1:03am

Funny, but I remember every single moment of it like it was yesterday. I could see the smoke from the Pentagon and I live just beyond the Capitol and had to walk home by it because I was afraid to use the subway. It was a strange feeling walking past that big beautiful marble building while a few miles to the west and also hundred miles to the north so many lives were lost, one of which was a friend.

Rose- enjoy your birthday - that will give me something nice to think about all day.

[bythesword84]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 1:05am

Oh I remember every second of that day.

Still doesn't make it feel any less surreal though.

That's really the only way to describe it, they're right.

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 1:06am

Was your cousin okay, bythesword?
And thank you, BT! Glad I could make your day a little brighter.

[Matt_G]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 1:08am

The morning of September 12th, I had an Amtrak ticket out of the city to go be with my family, so I was walking to Penn Station about 8am and I remember being the only person on the street on a Wednesday morning in New York City. There was nobody else and no cars. Than a homeless man by me laughing very hard and very loud.

I'll never forget that as long as I live.

[bythesword84]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 1:08am

He lost 9 of his friends from his ladder company and had a beam fall on him (although not that day, I believe it was day 2). He was on the Special Task Force so he was there one 24 hour shifts until it was all done. He hurt his shoulder from the beam a bit but otherwise he came out physically okay, otherwise it's not something he likes to even discuss. He says he'd never be able to move on if it keeps being shown back to him so he tries to lay low when these kinds of things come up.

Thank you for asking.

[Pip]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 1:11am

It's fitting that everyone does acknowledge their feelings and memories about that day...maybe even just to revisit the pain...and even the anger. I fear that time will start to diminish the pain of the tragedy and that might somehow diminish the memory of those who senselessly died. In history classes I never understood the general public's need to "remember the Alamo" or "remember the Maine" but I understand it perfectly now.

[Plum]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 1:19am

Nevermind. Updated On: 9/11/04 at 01:19 AM

[son_of_a_gunn_25]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 1:56am

It's really amazing how connected I felt to New York even though we were just an Indianapolis suburb. One of my teacher's wives had called in an order for some orthodontic supplies in New York. She didn't know about the attacks yet and it was a miracle she even got through to them. She spent the rest of the day relaying all the info to those people in New York and was a source of comfort to them as those who worked there worried about their significant others and families. They had no television and the phones were not working at all except for somehow her call got through. Another guy in one of my classes had a family friend who worked in the Trade Center and luckily they escaped. I was in choir when I heard, and the girls were getting fitted for their dresses. The guys were using the period as a study hall when a couple of the journalism students came down and told us a plane had run into the WTC. I was thinking it was a small plane like what happened to the Empire State building, but was horrified as I turned on the tv in the room. I saw the second plane hit, and I saw both towers fall. We prayed the entire period. I didn't want to leave, I just wanted to stay there all day. We didn't get anything done in our classes that day. I am not ashamed to admit I called my mom at work. She tends to freak out easily so I called just to reassure her, and be reassured myself. It still remember the girls faces after they came back one by one from getting fitted in the auditorium as they realized what was going on. I know it is kind of random sharing my story, but it helps to bring me peace somehow.

[bythesword84]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 2:09am

Why would you be ashamed to admit that you called your mom? I called my mom (well I tried to, cells weren't working) even though I knew she was on the island so she was safe.

[son_of_a_gunn_25]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 2:30am

It's just a stereotype in society that it shows weakness and I was wanting to accentuate that it shows strength and caring is all. I said I wasn't ashamed though some people are so close minded they would be.

[Rose_MacShane]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 2:30am

I didn't even know about it until I got to my first class. I got to school at 7:00 AM mountain time, so the news was just starting to hit the airwaves. I spent a happy 20 minutes chatting and recieving birthday wishes and gifts and headed off to class.

It was more subdued there, but I didn't think anything of it, until our sub said that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. She handed us our assignment and turned on CNN, by which time both towers had been hit. I'll never know why, but I made myself do the stupid assignment and when I looked up, there was one less tower standing. After that, every other thought left my mind. I raced to my next class and stared at the TV again. I remember seeing the second tower fall, live, and being in absolute shock.

Everything after that is just mushed together in a haze of disbelief and shock. Then I went home and it was like "Oh, yeah, it's my birthday." I remember the smell of cake as I came home and not being in the mood to eat it. My mom, however, pointed out that it was still my birthday, damnn it, and I should enjoy it as best I could.

When my dad came home I opened my gifts. And there is one that I will never forget: I opened one box and staring me in the face was the World Trade Center, emblazoned on a t-shirt. Around that time someone had made a bunch of girls' shirts with various New York landmarks on them, and by purest chance I got this one. Needless to say, I was shocked. Too bloody spooky. I still have it. Somehow it just feels wrong to get rid of it.

The closest I came to being personally hit was learning that the pilot of flight 93, Jason Dahl, lived nearby. His son was actually a year behind me, and he was in band when he found out that his father had died. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I learned that. Our homecoming dance was that weekend, and I will never forget seeing him cry as the last song of the night, "God Bless The USA" played.

[judy_in_disguise]

Posted: 9/11/04 at 2:44am

I live in Canada, but the pain was felt everywhere.
I found out in my first-period math class. Our teacher came in and told us about the first plane, and we all prayed. They announced the following events over the P.A. To be honest, I didn't know what the WTC was, or the Pentagon. But hearing the number of people involved.....I felt physically ill, as I'm sure you all did.
They set up a television in one of our lecture halls and played the American news all day. I stayed in that lecture hall all day, and continued to watch the coverage all night. I have never had anything so tragic impact me so much. I was crying and shaking at some points. It was hard to imagine that something that I was so geographically and politically removed from had such an affect on me. It really taught me that humanity can exist without borders, and that we really are all connected.