I was sitting at a traffic light after dropping my youngest off at her first day of preschool. I stopped at WaWa to get my mom and me our favorite coffee to celebrate the first time in many years that we were alone together to chat and for her to comfort me now that my last baby was in school. The DJ announced that a plane had hit the WTC. I immediately thought about the first WTC attack. I ran in the house and my mom had the news on and looked at me and said “for the first time since daddy died, I’m glad he’s not alive” Then a little bit later we watched the 2nd plane hit and she said “we’re being attacked, we’re at war” The phone rang and it was my husband asking for info (they didn’t have a tv in their department but heard a plane hit the first tower). We sat glued to the TV reports and the entire time my mom was repeating “this is different than Pearl Harbor” She took out her Rosary and started praying. The Pentagon gets hit and she tells me to “go hang the flag outside” and I tell my husband, the Pentagon just got hit. Then I go outside to hang the Flag. My next door neighbor sees me and tells me she can’t reach her mom who works in the WTC complex. She tells me her husband called and his building was evacuated (he works for and in the Fed gov’t building in Philly).
My husband gets home shortly afterwards (his company closed and sent all employees home).
We basically sat in front of the TV the entire day/night. Picked all the kids up from school and we sat watching our Country being attacked. The Principal of their school sent a letter home explaining her announcement/visit to each classroom and suggesting we don’t allow them to watch any footage. We didn’t agree and decided they should watch with us. It was the first day of preschool for my youngest and she had no clue what was going on anyway. The other 3 were 10, 9, and 5 1/2 (she just started Kindergarten).
My niece was living in Manhatten and she called her mom who called us (she’s a nurse and was there in a set up trauma tent that didn’t get many patients). My next door neighbor’s mom eventually called her once she walked the bridge to NJ and could get reception.
Our Church held a prayer service that night and we attended.
One of the things that sticks in my mind was my mom’s comment “this is different than Pearl Harbor” since she was alive then and my Dad immediately enlisted. She meant that we weren’t being attacked by a country. She raised her voice when she heard Tom Brokaw or one of the other anchors and she rarely raised her voice. I can’t recall why but she was ticked. Then she said, the news media in this country is gonna kill us all.
“Then she said, the news media in this country is gonna kill us all.”
Smart lady, your mom.
I was working in a Surgery Center...when my wife called me on my cell to tell me what was going on...
My Dad worked down by Wall Street, and I have many friends from HS who worked down there. I found out that my Dad didn’t go to work that day because he had a dental appointment which was a huge relief...he had taken the day off.
The ENT surgeon I was working with that day is also from NY, we always talked NY sports ad nauseum. Turns out, his cousin worked for Cantor Fitzgerald...which I only found out after I told him what was happening that morning between cases.
We both went to the TV and stared in disbelief...he immediately called his mother and realized that his cousin was in the towers...he was very close to his cousin who was the same age, from large, close catholic families....they grew up together. He was understandable distraught and cancelled the rest of his cases for the day...his cousin was never heard from again and later confirmed as one of the dead.
Words cannot describe my feelings adequately about that day...