Random Poll o' the Week: In remembrance...

I was working as a social worker than and I was in my car on my way to do an anger management group at a local high school when I heard the news on my radio.  At first I heard about just one plane and thought it must have been some kind of terrible accident but then I heard about the second plane, and then another plane, and I thought my god, they need to get all the planes out of the air.  I got to the high school and went into the class where I was supposed to do the group and they had the television news on.  The teacher of that class told me she was worried because her mom was supposed to be on a plane right that minute flying from New Mexico for a visit.  I told her I thought they were going to ground all the plane and her mom wouldn't be arriving on schedule.

There was just so much shock.  I can't remember now what I actually did with my anger management group that day.  I wanted to get them away from the TV for a few minutes because I think constantly watching that is stressful, especially for kids.  I don't remember what I had had planned for that day or what I actually did, though.

The next time I had to do that group was a few days later.  For the group, the kids made sympathy cards for families of people that died that day.  The Red Cross forwarded the cards to the families for us.  The kids were really angry about what had happened and I thought they needed something positive to do with that energy.  A lot of the kids had a hard time feeling empathy for others, which is common among kids that bully others and stuff like that.  So I wanted to help them tap into some empathy but thinking about what the families might be feeling and what they would want to read on a card if someone they loved had just died.  I was really, really happy with the work the kids did.

Thought I'd add a poem.  As you might have guessed from my user name, I write a lot of poetry.  Or used to anyway.  Never seem to have time anymore.

Run, Chicken Little, Run

I look at you sleeping,
curled on your side like a snail in its shell,
your back safe against the white rails.
Your hair is pale silk against the Pooh-Bear pillow,
and I stand in the honeyed light that slides in from the hall,
just breathing the same air that you breathe.

In a minute I will go back to my own room,
to the glass eye of the television set,
and I will watch soot-covered men pulling bodies
from those two towers that tumbled today.
I will watch people stepping into open air
where angels do not tread, and falling.
I will be grateful that you are sleeping
softly down the hall.

But for now I just stand in the light,
the bedtime book I read to you
still clutched in my hand,
and I think, my God, the sky really is falling.

Kelly, that is really lovely.

I was at work in a casual meeting about a report with two colleagues when another colleague interrupted us to tell us a plane had hit the WTC.  We assumed it was a small plane, but went to the large conference room (where they had the tv on) to check it out.  We watchewd the second plane hit the second tower.  Because we were at a DOE site, we were sent home shortly after that.  I most vividly remember:
1) watching the people jumping to their death rather than be burned alive
2) watching both towers collapse on live tv and watching the people emerging from the debris cloud covered in dust
3) hearing the sonic booms as the F16s scouted the area in front of Air Force One as it flew over my area.  (I did not know what the sonic booms were... I called my mom because I could see AF1 overhead (all other planes were down by then) and wanted to tell her to look (she lives just a couple of streets away) and to ask about the noises!) 

Then, of course, watching the "rescue" efforts over the next day or two with a sick stomach knowing damn well that, despite the most valiant efforts, they weren't going to find anyone alive in that mess.

Today I sit here absolutely APPALLED that the "first responders" have been excluded from the Ground Zero ceremonies in favor of politicians and "dignitaries".  Those men (and a few women) risked their lives (and now, it turns out, many have sacrificed their health as well) to get people out of those buildings.  They and the families of those who died in those buildings are the people who MOST deserve to be there. ^%@# the politicians!

Lora

I was also on a military base when 9/11 took place.  It was my very first day as the "big boss" in a position I had just been promoted into.  I had folks in the air traveling, including the owners of the company, so there was no one available to give me any guidance.

Rumor had it that they were going to put the base on lock-down, so I needed to make the decision whether or not to get my folks off the base while there was still time, and I did.

We were civilian, non-essential personnel and I figured that we did not need to be adding to the chaos.

Anyhow, we were off work for well over a week before we could get back on the base, and even then things were very tight and security was at an all time high.

It was heartbreaking then to witness the carnage, and it still is.  This was such a horrible time, yet I also recall that it drew us closer as a nation for many months afterward...

 

I was on my way home from an overnight shift in the ER. The radio DJ announced that "apparently there has been an accident and a small bi-plane ha**** the World Trade Center". I was home before they found out the truth.
I had to work my 2nd job at 11am and I was clueless as to what was happening, so I went straight to bed. When I woke up my mom (who is the master stoic) was sitting at the TV with tears in her eyes and said "The whole world has gone crazy, they are flying planes into buildings"
I watched with her until I had to leave for my other job, teaching martial arts. Instead of class we sat on the floor and watched.

That night in the ER, our doc was a mess - his sister worked on the 91st floor and had called in to work that day... apparently she had never missed a day before.

I still spend time in photos. Mostly of the Search and Rescue dogs, therapy dogs because that is a passion of mine, and one of my most dear goals after WLS.

I was waiting for my sister and mother to get off a plane.

I had a little 4 month old boy they were coming to visit.

I remember pushing his stroller that night down by the beach. It was so quiet but there were navy ships patroling the water.

I do remember thinking at the time that I was so fat and out of shape that I never would have made it down those stairs.

Deb T.