I know we kinda touched on it but......9/11

Re: I know we kinda touched on it but......9/11

• clarereedy

  

  September 2010 edited December 2011

  I was teaching that day.  I was working as a substituted in Connecticut and the teacher had gone to Europe for the Friday, Monday and Tuesday.  She was scheduled to be back in school on Wednesday, the day after 9/11.  I was asked to come out in the hallway and was told about the first plane.  I didn't get how serious it was at first - when the second plane hit, it was a completely different story. 
  
  I am from the Bronx, so the teahers in the building realized right away that I may have friends and family in the towers.  I had to keep it together to continue teaching for the day.  At the end of the day, we had to make sure each child that went home had someone to go home to.  I was lucky that none of the students in the class I was working in were affected.  Since the teacher would be unable to fly back from Europe, I would continue to teach them for the next three days. 
  
  When I drove home it was eerie.  All of the cars were heading north while I seemed to be one of the only ones heading into the city.  First stop was home to my parents.  Neither of them were working in the city, but still I needed to see them.  My cousin's wife had been down at the towers and made it home - that was a relief.  My other cousin was unable to reach her sister in law who had returned to work that day from a maternity leave - she never came home and is still missed. 
  
  That night my friends and I gathered together in our local bar and waited to hear from all of our friends who were firemen.  In our neighborhood, most of the guys grew up to be cops, firemen or did some type of construction.  One by one, we heard from our friends.  Two never called us or got a message back to us that they were okay.  They never came home again, but gave their lives doing the job they loved.
  
  I still remember the wakes, funerals, television footage.  I will never forget or forgive what happened to us that day - the children I was teaching, my family, my friends, our country.  I still have students in my classes who lost parents down there, and every time I teach them and think of their loss, I am reminded of this tragedy.
  

  

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• felicia220 member

  

  September 2010 edited December 2011

  Wow, thank you for sharing your story.

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• akmackay

  

  September 2010 edited December 2011

  That just got me very emotional. I can't even imagine it being the day she returned from maternity leave- leaving behind such a small baby.

  
  

  Thoughts and prayers are going out to all of those who lost loved ones 9 years ago.... I think it's still a fresh wound for all of us, and will continue to be, no matter how we were affected. 

  *~allie~*
  
  

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• gymchick05

  

  September 2010 edited December 2011

  I agree - that just sickens me to think about her poor baby and family- makes me so angry too. On my end I know about 4 people who should have been there that day and for one reason or another weren't - one broke down on the way to the city, etc. Thank God they were the lucky ones.  I cant imagine having to teach that day- my mom was teaching that day too and said it was so hard. I was a complete wreck that day- cant imagine having to put on a strong face for little kids. Thanks for sharing all your stories. I just pray something like this never happens again

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• DMLJ member

  

  September 2010 edited December 2011

  Each story is more tragic than the next!
  
  I was a Jr. in hs.  It was my best friend's b-day and our lockers were right by eachother.  She had just gotten some balloons tied to her locker by another friend and was so happy that she walked with them to her next class.  Kinda ironic.
  
  Another ironic thing is that the class I was heading to was my history class.  Just about as soon as the class started our principal came over the loudspeaker and told us that a plane crashed into one of the towers.  I was so naive at the time that Iliterally thought it was just a tragic mistake.  No one seemed too affected at first, but we turned on the tv and then got the word about the pentagon.  STILL, i remember thinking that something must just be wrong with the planes or something.  NEVER thought "Terrorism" or even knew what that word meant!  We witnessed the 2nd plane hitting the WTC live on the tv and that's when things got crazy.  Kids started using cell phones in class (HUGE no-no) trying to contact parents.  I had another kid in the front of the class who was on the floor by the teacher crying because a family member worked there.  Luckily, they were ok.  We went through the whole rest of the day in a haze.  Classes were cancelled, but we still had to report to each classroom- we just watched the news the whole day.  I'll never forget it.

  

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• mbcdefg member

  

  September 2010 edited December 2011

  I was taking the bus to college (I was a freshman) and had a walkman/radio with me. I was just getting off the bus when they announced the first crash on Z100, and they were joking about it thinking it was an accident.
  
  I didn't hear about the second crash until we had a break (two-hour class). The professor left the room to go to the lounge and then came back and announced we were under attack. A few minutes later they evacuated the university (it was in Jersey City) and the bus driver was rushing us to board because they were about to suspend bus services. I put on my radio and found out that both towers had collapsed and told my friends, who hadn't heard of that yet either. I got home and watched all the footage.
  
  I hate that the "Ground Zero Mosque" and the Koran burnings were the focus of this year's anniversary. I'm so tired of all this hatred and racism.
  

  

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• tinydancer842

  

  September 2010 edited December 2011

  I was in high school -- I walked into my history class & the TV was on & everyone was just watching in silence. No one really knew what was going on. All of a sudden I saw a girl in the back of the room (the class clown) bawling with her heard on her desk. It turned out her sister & FI go in & out of WTC every day & she hadn't heard from them (luckily she eventually heard from them & they were ok). I remember leaving class & looking out the window & seeing all the smoke from the city fill the air. It was really scary. 

  
  

  A few days later they had a memorial service in the park near my house -- one guy got up & told us he takes the ferry to NYC every day & pretty much everyone he rode the ferry with into the City died. My neighbor was in the 2nd tower & when the first plane hit he just booked it out of there & made it out alive. Unfortunately, a woman my mom work with -- her son was in the towers & he died, a family friend's daughter died, 2 of our distant relatives died, etc. 

  
  

  Also 2 years ago my grandmother died on 9/11...so I really will never forget what happened on this day...

  

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