Where were you on 9/11/01?

Can you believe that it has been EIGHT years since that fateful day in 2001?

EIGHT years...

At times, it seems just like yesterday, but at other times, it seems like a lifetime ago.

I thought I would take this opportunity to tell where I was when I heard "the news", and have it documented so I will never forget how I felt on that day.

I wish some of the country would remember how horrible that day really was....and not sugar coat it, change the facts, make up conspiracy theories, or just plain pretend that it ever happened.


It must be nice to live in that little bubble, huh?

Well, I for one, don't EVER want to forget what happened on that day, or in the days since....so here it goes.

I was working at the same doctor's office, near Atlanta, that I work at now. (I left for three years after Jameson was born, but have been back part-time for three years) The doctor that I worked for was in surgery that morning, so I came in a little later than normal. I was listening to "Steve and Vicki" on Star 94 (they have since left that station) as I always did when I got close to Atlanta (couldn't pick up Rick and Bubba). Right as I pulled into the parking lot, the newsman, John Stadler, said "Hey guys, this just came over the wire, it looks like a plane has hit a building in New York City." That's all the information they had at that moment. So in my mind, I was imagining a small plane maybe hit an antenna on top of a building or something. I wondered if the poor pilot had a heart attack and lost control of the plane. I then got out of the car and ran into the building. I stopped on the way to my office to tell some of my fellow co-workers what I had heard. Like me, they all thought it must have been some sort of small, single passenger plane that had met a poor fate.

***A little back story. Our office has no televisions, and at the time, the only radios we had were individual-owned in some of the offices throughout the building. Most of the time, the radios were off or muted because of dealing with patients and/or phone calls***

I went on, and started my busy day. About 10 minutes later, another co-worker comes running around the corner and says "A second plane just hit!"

My entire life changed at that one moment.

At that exact second I realized "This was planned, it wasn't an accident! Somebody MEANT to do this!" My heart literally STOPPED beating, I couldn't hear, I couldn't speak. This is the UNITED STATES people! Nothing is supposed to happen HERE!

Then I think "I'm 1 1/2 hours away from home, Marty is 6 hours away from home (he was working in Mobile at the time), and my baby (Chelsea) is at school, and my parents are at home."

"I'm never going to see the people I love the most in this world again."

When my heart started beating again, I ran to my office and called my mother. I asked her what she was seeing on the television. She could hardly tell me through the shock and tears. I do remember her saying "It's just awful, awful." I asked her through my tears, to please go get Chelsea from school. I then said "If we are all going to die, I want her to be with someone who loves her as much as I do."

I wanted to run out of that office right that second and drive home as fast as I could, but was told by my wonderful {sarcasm there} nurse manager to "Get a grip!" and wasn't allowed to leave.

I finally got in touch with Marty, and he was freaking out as much as I was. I assured him that Chelsea was safe and with people who loved her. He had only been with the Power Company for 9 months, and was working as far away from home they could possibly send him, working the hardest jobs they had at the time. Since he worked for a utility company, they were immediately put on "High Alert" which meant that all large sub-stations and power delivery/generation plants (especially the nuclear plants) were now on guard 24/7. That meant he couldn't leave work either.

We had to keep our jobs in case we did actually live through this.

A little later, we get the news of the plane crashing into the Pentagon, and then the plane crashing in the field in Pennsylvania.

Is this really happening?

During this time, we are all trying to hold it together enough to take care of the patients who were already at the office before this happened....those that didn't leave. Everyone was a complete basket case, except for my nurse manager and one of the doctors there who was making fun of everyone who was freaking out (she was single and childless at the time, and no longer works for our office). That afternoon, the ONLY patients who showed up for their appointments were the very pregnant ladies who were still trying to do the best thing for the little life they had growing inside of them.

Nobody there had actually seen the footage of the devastation, but kept the few radios we had, turned on full blast to make sure we could hear of any new information. The city of Atlanta was put on "High Alert" because of the Center's for Disease Control, and the size of the city. I kept in frequent contact with my mother and Marty for the remainder of the day.

Finally, we were allowed to leave, and I raced home as fast as I could. Since Marty was now on alert 6 hours away, the decision was made for Chelsea and I to stay with my parents until he was able to come home. I ran by our house, packed some things, and headed for the mountains.

Chelsea greeted me at the door, and I think I hugged her for an eternity. I hugged my parents and then I saw it.....

The video.

My parents and Chelsea had already seen it 1000 times, but this was the first time I was actually seeing the destruction.

It was so much worse than I had imagined.

We sat there numb for the rest of the night. I spent hours on the phone with Marty. We professed our love to each other, and to Chelsea, over and over again. We knew our spiritual lives were where they should be....Marty had just recently accepted Jesus into his heart and was baptized (in July of that year). He was upset, however, that he hadn't been able to lead many of his family to the Truth. Chelsea and I finally went to bed (she slept with me), where we spent a fretful and sleepless night....the first of many more to come.

Even though the country was still in complete chaos, I still had to go to work. For the rest of the week, we only saw about 10-20 patients total. The majority of which, were our very pregnant moms. Our office started a "support group" that met everyday at lunch, for anyone who wanted to come. This allowed us to talk about our thoughts and fears. We laughed together, cried together, and prayed together. It was really nice and helped some of us make it through this hard time. Of course, after a couple of days, my nurse manager told me that I couldn't go anymore because she wanted me to be available "on the floor" during lunch (you know, since we had so many patients.)

The days passed, and we all learned how much bigger this disaster could have been and how close that many more of us were to being in the path of a terrorist attack. There were stories of those that had died, those that had lived, those that had rescued, parent-less children, children-less parents. So many sad, sad stories.

It was just too much.

When Marty was finally able to come home (several days after the attacks), we clung to each other and Chelsea like never before. Marty and I started serious discussions about our future. We had just recently decided that we would like to try to have another child, but were planning to wait until he was further up the ladder at his job. Now the question was, "Do we even want to bring another child into this world?" The answer was "YES WE DO!" So, we immediately started trying for another baby. (And that in itself is a whole 'nother story...lol)

Exactly ONE year to the day after the attacks, I was in a car, on my way to the hospital, 34 weeks pregnant with Jameson, and very sick with pre-eclampsia. The only things on the radio were 9/11 tributes. I cried all the way to the hospital.... because I was so worried about my baby, and also because of the memories.

I did NOT want my baby born on this day!

Fortunately, I didn't deliver until the next day. Jameson was spared a 9/11birthday.

Our lives went on, and we all know that the rest of the world did too. All of the flags disappeared, and some started to act like nothing ever happened.

This just makes me SICK!

I am VERY fortunate to live in a small, very conservative, patriotic town. Our school is celebrating "Patriot Day" tomorrow, and has asked all of the children to wear red, white, and blue. I think that is FANTASTIC! Even though Jameson wasn't around when it happened, he KNOWS what 9/11 and Patriot Day is all about.

I hope to keep it that way, too!

No conspiracy theories for us, thankyouverymuch!



So, my dear bloggie buddies, what were YOU doing on September 11, 2001?

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Oh, and this year we are celebrating Patriot Day with an Army-themed 7 y.o. birthday party. I couldn't think of anything else I would rather do!