Your story, as well as the poem, brought tears to my eyes.
When 9/11 happened, I was at work, in the warehouse - no TV, only radio. A
co-worker's father & stepmother (whom she is closer to than her own
manipulative, drug-abusing mother) *both* work at the Pentagon, She tried
for several hours to contact them. She finally got hold of her father, but
no word on her stepmother. His father was off work that day for Dr.s
appointments, Even *he* couldn't get hold of his wife. Finally, in the
afternoon, they found her.
This is what I remember of her story (somewhere I have the email, but can't
find it):
Sheila (her step-mother) went to work as usual. As some co-workers
would be gone later in the week, they held their usual Thursday meeting that
Tuesday. She was not in her office when the plane hit, which was in the
wing that was hit, but her purse was still there (at this point, she didn't
even know if her office still existed). She was not allowed to go back &
get it when they evacuated. Thus, she did not have her cell phone with her.
They were loaded onto busses and driven to another part of town. They were
off-loaded at a diner/cafe/restaurant. All the pay phones were in use - and
even if they weren't, she had no money with her as she didn't have her
purse. The cafe, upon hearing that the busloads of people that just arrived
were evacuees from the Pentagon, was giving free bottles of water (as many
as people wanted, plus I think they might have offered up meals too).
Finally, seeing her distress, a coworker offered up his cell phone for her
to use. She tried every # for her husband but they were either busy or the
system was so busy she couldn't get through. *Finally* she was able to get
him, by calling their neighbor's and they went to get him, but the cell
phone battery died before she could tell him where she was. At this point,
the same co-worker offered to share a cab with her, in order for her to get
home. She gratefully accepted, however, it was a few more hours before a
cab became available (I can imagine that).
It wasn't until they were allowed back in to claim personal possessions
that she was able to see what remained of her office. While her office was
not directly hit, and not on the outer 'ring', a large chunk of the landing
gear did punch a hole of about 2-3 feet wide in the outside wall, and
damaged a large portion of the office inside. I was sent a couple of
pictures of this, but like the email, I cannot find it
. Had she not
been in the meeting (that was normally held on Thursdays), she might have
been seriously injured, if not killed!
However, some of her other co-workers were, and Sheila ended up in
therapy in order to deal with all that happened that day.
In ,
Matthew purred:
This is not political but since this is the 5 year remembrance for a
day the world we never forget I thought it appropriate to post a poem
that caught my attention
Sept. 11, 2001
Two Thousand One ~ Nine Eleven (2001-911)
Two thousand one, nine eleven
Three thousand plus arrive in heaven
As they pass through the gate,
Thousands more appear in wait
A bearded man with stovepipe hat
Steps forward saying, "Lets sit, lets chat"
They settle down in seats of clouds
A man named Martin shouts out proud
"I have a dream!" and once he did
The Newcomer said, "Your dream still lives."
Groups of soldiers in blue and gray
Others in khaki, and green then say
"We're from Bull Run, Yorktown, the Maine"
The Newcomer said, "You died not in vain."
From a man on sticks one could hear
"The only thing we have to fear.
The Newcomer said, "We know the rest,
Trust us sir, we've passed that test."
"Courage doesn't hide in caves
You can't bury freedom, in a grave,"
The Newcomers had heard this voice before
A distinct Yankees twang from Hyannis port shores
A silence fell within the mist
Somehow the Newcomer knew that this
Meant time had come for her to say
What was in the hearts of the five thousand plus that day
"Back on Earth, we wrote reports,
Watched our children play in sports
Worked our gardens, sang our songs
Went to church and clipped coupons
We smiled, we laughed,
we cried, we fought
Unlike you, great we're not"
The tall man in the stovepipe hat
Stood and said, "Don't talk like that!
Look at your country, look and see
You died for freedom, just like me"
Then, before them all appeared a scene
Of rubbled streets and twisted beams
Death, destruction, smoke and dust
And people working just 'cause they must
Hauling ash, lifting stones,
Knee deep in hell, but not alone
"Look! Blackman, Whiteman, Brownman, Yellowman
Side by side helping their fellow man!"
So said Martin, as he watched the scene
"Even from nightmares, can be born a dream."
Down below three firemen raised
The colors high into ashen haze
The soldiers above had seen it before
On Iwo Jima back in '45
The man on sticks studied everything closely
Then shared his perceptions on what he saw mostly
"I see pain, I see tears,
I see sorrow -- but I don't see fear."
"You left behind husbands and wives
Daughters and sons and so many lives
Are suffering now because of this wrong
But look very closely. You're not really gone.
All of those people, even those who've never met you
All of their lives, they'll never forget you
Don't you see what has happened?
Don't you see what you've done?
You've brought them together, together as one.
With that the man in the stovepipe hat said
"Take my hand," and from there he led
Three thousand plus heroes, Newcomers to heaven
On this day, two thousand one, nine eleven
Author UNKNOWN (What a shame!)
5 years ago at the time of the first plane hit I was watching the
news already ready to start my day. Everyone thought it was just an
airliner accident. I prayed for the people in the tower. A dear
friend called me to tell me what happened he could not reach anyone
else but his family just me. He was right across from the towers
literally right below the south tower near the side where the second
plane hit. I kept telling him to get out of there get somewhere
safe. When the second plane hit I remember screaming NO at the TV
scaring the hell out of the cats and my family. I yelled him run God
run now get the hell out of there. We were both in tears on the
phone. He was telling me to tell his family that he loved them and
we both thought he was going to die right there. I remember the
screams in the backgrounds, the shouts and his tears my tears than
silence. I remember holding on tight to my family praying to all
that was good please let them be ok. I tried calling back but only
got his voice mail I promised him his family would know that they
were in his thoughts. I made so many phone calls that morning trying
to find my family and friends. I had a family member in a building
near the towers we could not find her and no one knew were she was. We
were all glued to the TV looking for answers when I saw the report
on the pentagon attacks. I fell to my knees saying no no n o for a
cousin works in the building. We could not find her for 14 hours. I
called out for answers the only answer I had was silence. No one
could tell us anything no one had answers. The rest of the day was
glued to the TV sitting in silence stunned, violated, nauseated,
feeling the hatred, asking for forgiveness for the hatred.
When the announcement of flight 93 came out I just sat there emotional
stunned.
I watched them pull some fire fighters out of the rubble and the
first call he did was to his mother to say "I am ok,I am sorry that I
scared you, I love you". I remembering saying thank you in a silent
prayer
I watched the people; looking for my cousin, that had evacuated the
pentagon sitting in the field where a makeshift trama area had been
made. When the repost came in that there was still people trapped
inside and everyone even the injured ones stood up and went running
back to help.
I thought heroes all of them and prayed for them and their families
when the towers fell. I thought the world had ended
That evening I received the calls I had been praying for my friend had
made it out of the area he had to walk home many miles, My
cousins was stuck on the freeway for hours in the evacuation. We did
not find our other family member from the towers for 2 weeks. She is
the type that disappears for weeks at a time when she feels like it (
b@tch ).
I am sorry if this offends anyone but after 5 years I had to get
this off my chest. Today in remembrance all I could do is shed tears
at the 4 moments of silence. Wear a american flag pin to show
support. Drive with my headlights on all day. To give a smile to
the person as I held the door for them. To make sure I said thank
you and you are welcome with a smile on my face.
To makes sure heroes are remember somehow some way a small way to say
thank you. You are not forgotten
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9/11