It was the fall of 2001 and Bossy was a handful of months from graduating from Temple University with a degree in writing she would later squander in order to start a blog. Bossy was already in her mid-thirties.
At home Bossy had two young kids and one young husband:
It was a happy time for the Bossy family, much of it owing to these two:
Meet Bossy’s Brits, Karen and Gary. They were from Manchester England living next door to the Bossy family for two years because Gary, who was in the Royal Air Force, had been posted to the Boeing Company for an aeronautic project.
The Bossy family and the Brits had loads of fun during this time. Having children of similar ages, the adults would get together deep into the night, sitting on one porch or another, a baby monitor propped against a wine bottle in order to better ignore the waking children:
The morning of September 11th, 2001, Bossy backed out of her driveway early on the way to her usual Tuesday classes at Temple University.
It was a delightful morning. Bossy’s route took her past the Philadelphia Airport, where the crystal clear visibility allowed Bossy to notice the choreographed line of approaching flights. “What a beautiful day to fly,” Bossy thought for the first time in the two years she had been commuting.
A handful of minutes later, Bossy was settling into her first class of the day, an 8:30 am law class held in the dank basement of an outdated building. Bossy’s law teacher modeled himself after the very successful lawyer Johnnie Cochran, which is to say he dressed like a pimp:
In addition, Bossy’s self important law teacher had watched a few too many episodes of The Paper Chase:
So there sat Bossy and her fellow pimply-faced twenty-year-olds in a basement classroom while the teacher held forth, when suddenly there was a knock on the door. Bossy’s teacher was motioned outside, and Bossy and her classmates did what any respectable, serious students would do: they whispered and giggled.
But then Bossy’s law teacher was back, and he was saying, “Ladies and Gentleman, I don’t know how to say this, but it looks as though our country is being attacked.”
He went on with a string of words like New York City and airplanes and bombs, while Bossy and her classmates scurried to pack up their books, and a few students with family working in and around the World Trade Center tried unsuccessfully to stifle their rising panic.
Bossy took the stairs to the ground level two at a time, pausing near the building’s entrance to catch a few minutes of the Today Show on an old television rolled into the middle of the hallway on a black metal cart.
And then suddenly someone was reporting a bomb at the Pentagon, and Bossy began running toward her car. Once there Bossy maneuvered out of the parking lot while scrolling across the entirety of her radio dial without finding any live coverage of the events.
Bossy drove home along the same route past the airport, where Bossy held her breath and turned to look at the other drivers as she flew by them in the passing lane, ascertaining by their blank expressions they didn’t yet know the news.
Once home, Bossy ran across the front lawn and through her front door, settling into the family room with her mom to watch the news. A few minutes later, Bossy’s British neighbor Karen joined them on the sofa.
And there the three of them sat for a timeless stretch of hours, while directly behind their heads, the impatiens growing in Bossy’s window boxes flourished in a riot of color in the September 11th sunshine.
Please share your story.
Jacquie says
September 12, 2011 at 1:16 pmSuch a powerful contradiction, I remember being strongly conflicted by the beauty of my nursing newborn as my tears fell onto her bald head. We watched that same coverage together yesterday, and she curled up smaller and smaller into my lap until we finally turned it off. I want them to know, but I can’t stand for them to know.
Lynda M O says
September 12, 2011 at 1:17 pmThis is hands down the bet 9-11 post I have read so far, Bossy. Thanks for keeping it real.
Juliet says
September 12, 2011 at 1:20 pmThis downright gave me chills. Excellent writing, Bossy!
Gramps says
September 12, 2011 at 1:26 pmWell done Bossy
BSTBXH says
September 12, 2011 at 1:27 pmSeriously.
EXCELLENT.
What I remember most, besides ALL of what Bossy describes, is this: shuttling back and forth from the Operating room lounge (TV) to the operating room where I was standing by, and reporting the news. At one point I walked into the lounge and was wondering what camera angle was only showing one tower, when the second one fell, and then there were none. Stunned, as if one could be MORE stunned than seeing the second plane hit. Or any of it.
Meg @ Soup Is Not A Finger Food says
September 12, 2011 at 1:41 pmMy how things change in a decade. I was grousing at my office in suburban MD, 30 miles and one river away from the Pentagon, because despite my expertise in HR, my boss made me meet some office movers and escort them to a suite in our building to move some stuff. When they got off the elevator, one of them said, “a plane just flew into the World Trade Center.” Huh, we all said, and went to the area to be moved. When the second one hit, someone had set up a TV in an office and we all watched in stunned silence. By the time we all figured out what was going on, they dismissed our office, and I joined countless frantic others in the race to pick up our children from daycare and school. My then 5- and 3-year old sons safely at home, we sat outside in the gorgeous late-summer weather and while they pushed toy diggers in the dirt, I couldn’t stop looking up at the sky and noticing the absence of contrails. Later, I went inside and watched the marathon of TV coverage. We didn’t know then what it all meant but we all knew it was life-changing.
Debby says
September 12, 2011 at 1:52 pmDriving to east side of Houston, heard report of plane hitting first tower. Remember thinking “it’s probably a Cessna 2 seater thing, making a statement”. Got to plant location (was hosting training) and started class. Within 30 minutes we were out of class watching tv.
Headed back to West side of Houston office and sat in conference room crying while watching tv.
Went home, hugged my kids (that I had called daycare to check on, of course) and spent the next 3 days listening to the quiet in the skies being interrupted only by fighter jets circling Houston looking for more trouble.
Heavy heart all weekend here. My 13 and 12 year watched MANY, many hours of the coverage. So thankful I was able to shelter them then and so sad they are learning about it now
Kelly @ Student of the Year says
September 12, 2011 at 1:59 pmThose flowers, they match the brilliance of the sky.
At the time when people were hurling themselves out of windows for the simple need to breathe and escape heat, I was walking in that beautiful late summer morning, through Drexel’s campus, to Penn’s. Everyone remembers that sky that day, how blue and intense. I tried to get on the Internet when I got to work, and found it frozen. My boss, who lives in Queens, said that something happened in the WTC. Soon, everyone on that Wharton floor watched the horrid unfolding in a cubicle TV. I hadn’t smoked for a while on that day, I had recently quit, but I remember having two cigarettes that morning, bummed from a friend. We couldn’t get out of the city via train, so my then boyfriend, now husband, came to pick me up, and our friend John. We met later that night to throw the Frisbee around the campus of Haverford College, and we watched coverage in John’s apartment. It was the first time I’d seen video of the jumpers. I’ll never forget those images, as long as I have a brain that works.
Carey says
September 12, 2011 at 2:02 pmI was finishing up my first summer break from my first year of college by visiting my grandparents in California and we had planned a trip to Lake Tahoe for the weekend. The room I was staying in at their house didn’t have a clock so I would wake up in the morning and turn on the TV to get an idea of what time it was (The Today Show = 7 a.m., 8 a.m. = Local Programming, 9 a.m. = Regis & Kelly). I woke up on September 11th, turned on the older model TV and first heard Matt Lauer talking with a woman on the phone about a loud explosion they had heard, and then when the picture came to, saw the image of the two towers, one on fire and the other standing next to it. Seconds later I saw the second plane fly into the other building. My grandmother came into the room to give me the rundown about what time we would leave for Tahoe, but I found myself in a haze; not really listening to her because I was so overwhelmed by what I just saw, but at the same time not understanding and comprehending what I had just seen. She must have been able to see that something was wrong and after she asked I told her “A plane just flew into the World Trade Center in New York City” and even after seeing it, and saying those words, I still couldn’t wrap my head around what was going on because it was so horrific. She became panicked and rushed out to the living room to tell my grandfather.
We did go to Lake Tahoe that weekend but it felt odd to go and all I remember is listening to the radio the whole time to hear updates on developments (the cabin didn’t have TV).
Shelley says
September 12, 2011 at 2:03 pmLiving in Arizona, the first plane hit before I was even awake. I went to the computer, back when I had (gag) AOL, and on the front page was a picture of a plane hitting the WTC. I thought it was a hoax, or a new movie. It couldn’t possibly be real.
I turned on the TV. It was real. While I was getting my then fourth grader and first grader ready for school, I tried to find out what was going on without them hearing.
What I remember most, is not wanting to take my girls to school. Wanting to keep them at home with me. I got to the school and dropped them off, and stood in the parking lot with the other moms, talking in hushed tones and keeping one eye on the eerily quiet sky.
I went home and sat in front of the TV all morning and part of the afternoon. All I could think about was, what was my fourth grader hearing at school? Was she scared? What were they telling the kids? I went to the school and took her out to lunch. She said that her teacher had the radio on all morning (GRRRRRRRRRR) and that her teacher had said this was probably going to start world war III. In the teacher’s defense, she was very young too, and scared. Still, no reason to say that to a room full of fourth graders. I reassured my daughter that there would be no world war three, and that some bad people had crashed two planes into buildings in New York. I also told her that New York was really far away, and that while it sounded scary, it was really far away and nothing bad was going to happen in Arizona.
Trying hard to reassure a child when I was so scared myself. All day I had to fight the urge not to just go get both of them from school and bring them home, with me.
Amy says
September 12, 2011 at 2:17 pmI was on my way to work and listening to Imus in the Morning when he came on the air and said that a plane just hit the WTC. At that point they were speculating that it was a tourist plane or two seater. I was at work for the second hit, and my boss came in and stated that another plane crashed into the WTC. I went home, grabbed my tiny portable b and w, came back to work and we watched that off and on for the rest of the morning. It had a lousy picture and we couldn’t see much detail. Didn’t realize the extent of the matter until I went to class (Rutgers Camden, Hi Bossy from over the river!) (it was a law class and I don’t remember the prof at all, yes I’m a lawyer) and there I was told the school was closed for the day. I knew it was a terrible thing, but it wasn’t until then that I understood how the rest of the country was feeling. (Camden NJ is the armpit of the world, no one would attack it! So the school did not close because it was a potential target.)
BOSSY says
September 12, 2011 at 2:20 pmBossy remembers she and her mother deciding NOT to pick the kids up from school prematurely, figuring that even weirder stuff happens when people panic and do things out of routine. The kids were sent home at midday, though, if Bossy recalls.
Karen next door says
September 12, 2011 at 2:33 pmYou’ve just made me cry. Thanks for the mention, we miss you so much. Love always. xx
Miss Mommy says
September 12, 2011 at 2:34 pmI was getting dressed, enjoying another leisurely morning at home as the school I taught at delayed the start of the school year due to construction. I was early into my pregnancy with my twin boys, a pregnancy that had taken five tough years to finally achieve. I had the Today Show on and watched Matt Lauer interrupt whatever was happening, touching his ear piece to better hear what the director was saying to him. He reported that it seemed that a plane had just crashed into one of the towers. At that time no one was sure exactly what had happened; it might have just been a horrible accident. The screen switched over to live coverage of the tower on fire, tons of smoke pouring out. It was awful. And I, along with the staff of the Today Show, noticed a plane in the corner of the screen, just a passing observation as we took in the horror of the burning building, and then watched in absolute disbelief as it flew directly into the other tower. There was no questioning whether or not this was an accident anymore. I remember my knees feeling weak and sitting on the edge of my bed, watching the images on tv get repeated over and over and over, not even noticing the tears spilling down my cheeks.
I know eventually my husband came home from work – don’t really remember if he got home early or stayed the whole day – and we both just sat in front of the tv, watching together the endless coverage, feeling completely numb.
Jen says
September 12, 2011 at 3:13 pmI was in London England, at work. My boss asked me why I wasn’t getting off Yahoo Messenger as lunchtime had finished and I should get on with some work. I told him to F*** O**. I had been watching news of the incident come through via various private messages, but hadn’t said anything to my colleagues yet as none of it made sense. At the point he got snarky with me I had finally managed to get onto the BBC NEWS website (which craters several times that afternoon due to the sheer weight of traffic), and understand the full enormity of what was happening, and just in time to see the second plane fly into the towers. The personal messages I was getting from friends in NYC were awful, some were in the Flatiron building and were panicking.
The full horror of the day was that my now-husband was in NYC, due to go up the Twin Towers that day. I didn’t hear from him for several days. Although at the time he and I were not dating seriously, I think in that monent I knew he and I would get together seriously.
Flickr used one of his photos on their main page yesterday. He had decided at the last minute to go up the night before, due to the weather. He went to develop his film and collect the prints, returning to the WTC with a view of going up again. He didn’t get further than exiting the subway.
His photos are here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/khaosproductions/sets/72157616430511631
Some of the most poignant photos of the day for me, as I know he lived through it, but also has to live with it.
Meg at the Members Lounge says
September 12, 2011 at 3:30 pmThanks for writing from the heart. I watched the fighter jets scramble overhead to intercept the planes from Boston. Just like Dorothy said in Oz, I liked your post best of all.
Texas Susan says
September 12, 2011 at 3:40 pmBossy, those flowers were brilliant! Everyone always will remember where they were on 9/11. This is my story:
http://susansternberg.wordpress.com/2009/09/11/911-a-somber-day-of-remembrance/
Debby says
September 12, 2011 at 3:47 pmI had to come back as I recalled the next night (September 12 late/13 early?) waking up in the middle of the night and turning on the tv because coverage was 24/7 of rescue searches. I remember holding out hope that someone (ANYONE) would be rescued from the rubble.
And sitting there and crying while watching CNN in the dark in the middle of the night.
dobes says
September 12, 2011 at 4:03 pmI was asleep in my apartment on 110th St. in NYC. Woke at 9.30 to discover dozens of email messages begging desperately to know if my family and I were alive (!) Didn’t notice the constantly ringing church bells and screaming sirens. Phone lines had been cut off already, but one call got through and I turned on the TV and started yelling to wake up my son, “We’re under attack! We’re under attack!” He and I wandered the streets that day, seeing things we will never forget. That night, at my sister’s, we watched TV in near-silence, watching F16s circle in the otherwise empty sky. The next day we walked to South Street Seaport to volunteer, and offered to give blood, but none was needed. We bought shovels and boots and socks for the people searching the site – their shoes were melting and had to be constantly replaced.
We were frightened and numb. In the aftermath, both my sons got pneumonia from from the jet fuel fumes constantly blowing in our windows, and my oldest son and I lost our jobs. Unable to find work in a stricken NY, my family split up – oldest son to LA, younger son and me to Europe. A horrible day, dark times afterwards, and after the initial outpouring of
love and support across the city, it seems the country’s mood turned mean and violent, Personally, things are much better for us now, but I still worry about what it’s done to America.
dobes says
September 12, 2011 at 4:08 pmAnd, Bossy, I’m not surprised you noticed the flowers. My son and I went to St John the Divine to pray, and I wandered out into the garden there and stared at a beautiful peacock standing there for a long, long time, trying to impress its beauty on my mind on such an ugly day.
BossysMom says
September 12, 2011 at 4:42 pmDobes…..a remarkable account…the amount of illnesses in the aftermath must have been an overwhelming number.
While watching all of the programs yesterday, I was thinking the same thing…how everyone came together, how we need eachother, and how it quickly turned into the mess it is right now. I’m so glad things are better for you and yours now.
BossysMom says
September 12, 2011 at 4:44 pmI urge everyone to watch Novas’ “Engineering Ground Zero”.
It renews and restores faith in coming together. It is just a marvelous piece of coverage, from beginning to end.
And I think we all agree that we shouldn’t call it “Ground Zero” anymore.
Pam says
September 12, 2011 at 4:46 pmThe writing course paid off, Bossy – beautifully done. My story’s here: http://www.travelskite.com/2011/09/1209.html
In New Zealand, it was September 12 when we woke to the news, but I didn’t find out till I went to work, and saw it over and over on the TV there. I remember the three of us sat in the office hardly talking all day, stunned and struggling to get our heads around just the idea of it. At that stage I hadn’t been to New York, but I was familiar with the towers from the skyline shots in ‘Friends’ and it was hard to believe they weren’t there any more, that they were just a pile of rubble with inside it the remains of thousands of ordinary people doing ordinary jobs at their desks just the same as we were. Selfishly, we were glad to be so far away.
CS says
September 12, 2011 at 5:02 pmI just remember feeling so sick, watching it on TV, here in CA, and then making frantic calls. It took two days, I think, to learn that one of my closest friends was ok, but that her firefighter boyfriend was not. I didn’t yet have kids, and I was glad of that.
Linda_M says
September 12, 2011 at 5:23 pmI had just been laid off in late August 2011, from an office that was in Baltimore’s World Trade Center, and had my first job interview in Baltimore on 9/11. It was a surreal experience to watch the news in the morning, drive to Baltimore, go through the interview and then drive home, listening to all the reports. I was glued to the TV for hours. At one point I said “enough”, and tuned to FoodTV hoping to find Emeril or Alton Brown to distract me, only to discover that they had suspended programming.
Because of the immediate economic downturn I did not get the job but, interestingly enough, I kept in touch with the interviewer for many years. I did start work again in November at a company in Washington DC, that was withing walking distance of the White House. For the five+ years I worked there my husband worried every day that I was in harms way should something happen again.
Stefanie says
September 12, 2011 at 5:47 pmI was living in Vermont at the time, working weekends on the air for the public radio station and also running its website. The television was on as I was leaving the house for work, and I heard enough to know I didn’t have time to make my 40 mile rural commute. I stayed home all that day, and the next, watching the news and developing what turned out to be “the” go-to site for Vermonters to get information about the disaster: the emergency phone numbers that were set up for each of the businesses that had been officed in the Towers, how to post information about missing persons, etc.
It was horrible.
I’ve never watched so much television or done so much gruesome web research in my life, before or since. I wanted to stop, but it was my job to create an information portal for those who had lost someone, those who needed to find a way to help, and those who just wanted to know more than what network news was sharing. My site won awards later in the year and I did hear from many that it helped them find what they needed to find, so I supposed it was worth it. Didn’t help that I had a friend from graduate school who was on United #93. And we could see the smoke in the sky Wednesday and Thursday, even though the city was five hours away by car.
There’s been a lot of therapy in my life between then and now. I’m proud to have provided some sort of resource to people, but all I wanted was to turn it all off, go dark, and stop absorbing all that horror and grief, and I couldn’t do that because of my job.
It makes me giggle that Howard Stern had the scoop. How awful.
Natalie says
September 12, 2011 at 6:08 pmI had just started a position as principal of a small private school on Staten Island. My husband worked for Reuters on the 12th floor of 1 World Trade. A teacher’s husband in our school called to let us know that a plane had hit 1 World Trade. I called my husband, and he said that he was ok and locked on his floor. I asked him to come home. We hung up. The towers fell. I didn’t know if he got out or not. Around 3pm, he called from a tug boat. The firemen had arrived at the building just in time, and he was able to exit through the basement mall after they unlocked the doors to his floor. It was the longest day of my life…..
Carrie says
September 12, 2011 at 9:29 pmEveryone remembers…
I had been teaching first grade for exactly one week when one of the women from the office walked into my classroom and handed me a note which said, “Do not turn on your TV. A plane has crashed into the World Trade Center.” I looked at her dumbly. Huh? Turn on the TV? The one that didn’t work? Why would I turn on the TV? And how dumb was that pilot of what was surely a private two seater or something to fly into such a big building. I thanked her and returned to my lesson. (Today that woman told me that what she remembers most about that day was the expression on my face when I read the note. Apparently she thought I was terribly moved.) At about 10:00 I was able to leave my classroom and went to get something in the teacher’s room. A TV was set up there and some staff members were watching in silence. It took a few more minutes for me to get my bearings, to realize what was actually happening, and then I had to return to my classroom and spend the rest of the day trying to act as if nothing had happened so I would not frighten a room full of 6 year olds. After school, I picked up my own 6 year old and my baby. As we walked to the polls to vote (it was primary day in MA), I told my son what had happened as carefully as I could and answered his questions, knowing the answers were probably wrong, but were as reassuring as I could possibly be.
amy says
September 12, 2011 at 9:35 pmI was driving to a local yarn store and listening to Howard Stern’s morning show. My husband was flying back from Baltimore to Boston that morning, having changed his flight–American flight 77–a week before. Howard Stern broke the news and I pulled over, couldn’t believe what I was hearing. About 20 minutes in, while I kept flipping radio channels trying to get more news, my husband called me–they had been sitting on the tarmac and he wanted to know if anything was going on since no one knew why they weren’t taking off. I told him that 2 planes had flown into the towers. He hung up and called Avis; they said they had no cars but if the FAA grounded flights, they would release all the cars they had reserved for incoming passengers. He was first on the wait list.
An hour later, his plane taxied to the gate, he got off and saw a line of about 500 people in line at Avis. Then they called his name.
I went home and watched tv until it was time to pick up the kids. I wouldn’t let them watch it because the images were so graphic. My husband got home at 10 that night.
I was planning on visiting my dad, who was at MGH, after the yarn store. He called and said that the hospital was surrounded by police and they were waiting for all the incoming casualties from NYC. So many sad things from that day.
Claire in Az says
September 12, 2011 at 9:50 pmIt was near sunrise in Tucson that morning as I rose to get ready for a 7:00 AM meeting. I woke to the news instead of an alarm and so heard a brief, inconsequential but odd report of a ‘small plane hitting the towers’ in NYC. I had been there for the first time time the previous March. Rapidly the facts became clear and the reports started flying about the airliner. I woke my husband, but had to think hard about waking my 13 year old son to tell him. I realized this was going to impact his life and so decided he needed to be present for it. I let my 9 year old daughter sleep a while longer in innocence.
Two things I can’t dispel … First the frantic, primal need I felt to contact my loved ones (who were nowhere near the East coast) just to know they were safe. And second, the eerie silence for days with no planes flying.
Cupcake Murphy says
September 12, 2011 at 11:03 pmWhat a bizarre day for me. All the horror and tragedy for the country and then me and my little family—-that day my dad was supposed to go get the official results of his Alzheimer’s Diagnosis and because of the 9-11 events this was delayed one week. I always feel selfish when I conjur up memories of that day and that time.
helenel says
September 12, 2011 at 11:03 pmMy husband and I were in Ireland. We’d gone for a drive to see an old monastery and mill. When we got to the mill, the lady working there told us that a plane had flown into the World Trade Center. It was difficult to believe, and we wanted to rush to the car, but didn’t want to be rude, so we paid for our (suddenly quasi-discounted) ticket and made a /very/ cursory tour of the mill and it’s implements and then went and listened to the radio. I think we looked at eachother in shock and said “Huh.” and sat listening a while longer and then we toured the ruins of the monastery. We went back to Kilkenny, and I went to an internet cafe to ask if everyone was okay at home while my husband went to a bar. When I picked him up, the very young bartender said, “Sorry about your country!”
We really had no choice but to continue our vacation. People were so very, very kind everywhere we went.
Bookgirl says
September 13, 2011 at 6:54 amIt was 4 days before our wedding. My fiancé and I were both off work, and asleep. My best friend called and told us to turn on the tv.
I turned it on just in time to see a plane hit the 2nd tower. We sat there all day. I don’t remember eating, getting up for anything. We just sat, all day, and wept.
On Thursday, it dawned on us, we were getting married in two days. We snapped out of our fog, and did the “important” wedding things… Pick up the dress, rebook the tux fittings they’d missed the day before, all those last minute details. None of it seemed to matter.
We are in Canada, but had US relatives flying in. And lots of friends from across Canada. Amazingly, they all made it.
When the day if our wedding dawned, it was a perfect day. And our wedding was such a gift to us all. At 2am, when our hall closed, almost everyone was still there. I think our wedding was healing, both for us and others, tone able to gather, to celebrate life and to be with family.
For our honeymoon, we went to Europe. We were delayed 4 days in getting out, and away almost a month. It was a surreal trip, as there were very few travelers, security was crazy insanely tight, and all we had for news were headlines in foreign papers screaming Bin Laden. We missed much of the coverage after, and I’m glad of that.
When we flew home, they were still in the process of figuring out what airport security would look like. We ended up showing our passports 5 times at the airport, including as we boarded the plane. While we waited gate, literally five minutes before boarding, CNN broadcast that an Israeli plane had been shot down, Al-Quaeda probably responsible, etc. It was the most terrifying 8 hours of my life, flying home. I have never been so relieved to be hone as when we landed. (As it turns out, it wa a Ukrainian missile accident).
We celebrate our tenth anniversary this year. As with every anniversary, it is tinged with sadness. I remember again, what a strange, surreal week in my life it was, to experience both the trauma of 9/11 and the joy of marrying my husband in the span of 4 days.
runnergirl says
September 13, 2011 at 7:00 amI was working at Magee Rehab, and went to the floor to file some noted before beginning to treat patients. A nurse came out of a patient’s room and told me that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I asked her “Like fell out of the sky or slammed into it on purpose?” She just looked at me like how horrible I was to think something like that. I felt bad for saying it, and was internally reminding myself to think before I speak. We went together into the patient’s room and saw the 1st tower smoldering, and then saw the 2nd plane fly into the other tower. She looked at me really hard. I didn’t say another word.
The Grouchy Mom says
September 13, 2011 at 11:14 amBossy wrote beautifully.
I almost didn’t read it…I didn’t want to be sad, but your delivery was well worth the painful reminders.
Daddy Scratches says
September 13, 2011 at 12:07 pmMy story is HERE.
And you’re totally right about Howard Stern’s amazing coverage that morning. And because you unflinchingly noted it here, I dig you even more than I previously did.
km says
September 13, 2011 at 12:29 pmon a stupid conference call in midtown. First plane crashed. I said it’s a bomb. People thought I was nuts. I was not nuts. I was Irish. Then I said. Where there’s one there’s two. Because that’s what terrorists do. There will be another. We need to leave now to get out. They still thought I was nuts. I was not nuts, I was Irish. We have seen this before you complacent innocents.
My phone rings, and rings again. My mother in Ireland, my brother in Ireland and then my sister on Wall Street. All saying, get the hell out of there, that looks like a bomb and you know there will be another.
Conference call cut short with my tart comment to stupid, stupid company owner ” a good run is better than a bad stand. I’m outta here!”. Too late
Couldn’t get home to Jersey. Port Authority closed. Path closed. etc etc.
Slept on fire escape of only person who’s address I had in Manhattan. We put yoga mats out and wrapped ourselves in blankets and watched the big machinery roll down to Ground Zero.
I got home next evening with the help of many, many kind ladies of Newark who got me off the train and, as only a black women can, yelled hellfire and damnation at bus drivers till they figured out a way to get my poor Irish ass back to North Jersey.
The next few weeks we tallied the dead, friends and business colleagues, sons and daughters of our friends, the Irish names and even a woman only 9 miles from my little country birthplace. My age.. When the rolodex said 7 World Trade we would freeze. What sort of a message do you leave on work voicemail? “if you’re alive, give me a call.”
Strange day, strange months.
Hug your family.
Iowamom says
September 13, 2011 at 1:27 pmAt home with our 18 mo boy and our newborn baby girl. Husband was away on biz. I cried and cried just like the rest of the nation. It was horrific and I was so scared to think of what the world was coming to for my new precious babies. It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years. The coverage is still gut-wrenching. I’ve been to NYC in 2006 and 2008 and got to see Ground Zero. It’s truly unbelievable.
km says
September 13, 2011 at 6:46 pmBTW- Bossy looks younger now than 10 years ago. Well done Bossy. Terrorists didn’t stop you:)
Amy says
September 15, 2011 at 10:27 pmI logged on to my computer (dial up back then) and responded to an email my friend had sent asking if I had seen the news. No, I was still reeling from the fact her dad had died the day before.. She explained the one of the world trade centers had been hit. What on earth was she talking about?? (I am a Canadian, she from HI USA.)
I cruised to my news site at CBC and saw what was going on.
Nothing hit me harder than hearing 300 or so firefighters headed up those stairs seeking to help and were killed. Hubby is a firefighter and it really hit home that it could very well have been him and his hall seeking to help and perishing.
Spent the day (when I could with 3 kids under 5) watching the news and completely shocked. So sad..
C says
September 17, 2011 at 12:17 pmon 9/11, my son was almost 20 and my step-son just turned 17. After we realized this was an attack, my first thought was of Pearl Harbor. I thougth war would be declared immediately and my son would be drafted, with the step-son not far behind. This thing was bigger than all of us, and it would take my son far away. Say what you will about George W, but I admire that he took a measured response. If he had declared war immediately, the country would’ve back him at that point. My son did not go, but my step-son volunteered after graduation. At least they both got to make a choice. Not trying to be political here, just the thoughts of a mother on that day…..
C says
September 17, 2011 at 12:22 pmoh, and also..my husband worked as a first responder (paramedic, then sheriff’s deputy) for many years. But I don’t think I ever realized just how bad a disaster could really get. To all of you first responders and their families, thank you for what you’re willing to do!
kitty joe says
September 19, 2011 at 1:24 pmi watched the towers fall from my brooklyn rooftop. my photo/words reaction here: http://spackleshot.blogspot.com/2008/09/i-wrote-this-seven-years-ago.html
Lori in mn says
September 19, 2011 at 1:25 pmI just remember long days at home, pregnant and with 2-year old, watching tv, reading newspapers and sobbing the whole time. It just seemed like the heroic and horrible stories would never end, and the lists of people missing or dead kept getting longer. I’ll never forget those images, and I was terrified this year that something would happen during the memorials.
Wacky Mommy says
October 5, 2011 at 1:42 amhttp://wackymommy.org/blog/archive/2006/09/11/peace/
Moira says
September 12, 2013 at 3:56 pmI was up the road from you, working in Langhorne PA. We also pulled an old TV out of storage and put it on the reception desk, tuned to the Today Show. That’s where I saw the towers fall.