{9/11/01}

do you remember where you where when the 9/11 attacks happened?

this question is asked so much.  and everybody's answer should be yes.  how could we not remember where we were?

i was sitting on our blue and white striped couch with my 2.5 year old son in my lap in our basement apartment on the phone with my mother when the second plane hit the North Tower.  i remember the light coming in the windows.  i remember trying to wake up my then husband to tell him what was going on.  i remember the fear that ran through me at that moment.  the immense sadness.  it overcomes me every. single. time. i see clips or read an article about that day. 

i remember being unsure of what was going to happen to us and our country.  i remember being scared about going to war.  i remember wanting to bomb the hell out of the people that did this to us.  i remember worrying about the innocent lives in the countries that "harbor terrorists".  i remember worrying about the innocent mothers and children that were going to lose their lives like so many americans had.  i remember thinking how awful these people must have been to not only kill so many of us, but in return kill so many of their own people. 

i worked at dunkin' donuts at the time.  i remember posters coming in with words of encouragement and support to the american citizens.  i remember hanging those posters with pride. 

i also remember being afraid after.  i am from plymouth, ma.  "america's hometown".  i remember thinking to myself the next Fourth of July, "how perfect would it be for them to attack us again...in america's hometown on america's birthday?"  thousands of people huddle into plymouth harbor for the fireworks.  i remember being afraid to go to those festivities for years.  i never forget, but finally enough time has passed that i am no longer afraid. 

i hope that our children and our children's children never have to live with these feelings.  these memories.  i hope that they never have to be afraid to celebrate the wonderful country they live in. 

here are some pics from "Ground Zero" from one month ago.  lisa and i took a trip to NY and this was a must visit place.  we simply walked through quickly.  there's not much to see right now.  everything is covered up for the rebuilding.  it doesn't matter that there's not much to see....it was the feelings that mattered.  it was very eerie being in the spot that it happened.  i'm sure, not as eerie as being there today.

this is what the pools look like. there will be two. one where each tower used to stand.