Five years ago today I was sound asleep with my four year old little precious boy Tanner when I was awakened by a phone call. Dad called to tell me our nation was under attack. I will never forget him saying “The world as we know it has just changed.” It was such a sobering time as a new mommy to sit holding my baby and wondering what world he would grow up in.
In remembrance of all those who died…
Where were you?
*Happy Birthday Graham! I love you honey!
14 responses to “5th Anniversary of 9/11”
I was at work on proposal day in the estimating department of a construction company. We were SUPPOSED to stay focused on our bid and yet I kept going to the other room to see the TV and couldn’t help feeling overwhelmed that we should stop EVERYTHING and PRAY! I can’t believe how many hours business went on “supposedly” as usual before someone FINALLY postponed the bid… I instantly worried about our nearby military base and wondered if Jas was ok or would be called out… I wanted to get “somewhere” to do “something” – to help… I cried, I prayed… I hurt for the hurting. It truly was the day our world as we know it changed. I don’t believe we should stop fighting the battle we are fighting… but I do not see how we can ultimately win either… I think we’d better say some major prayers of thanksgiving for our freedom and do what we can to keep it for as LONG as we can!
I was at home in bed. The previous day I had undergone and HSG to check my tubes because we were starting to *try to get pregnant*… i was in pain.. .and my phone was ringing off the hook! Finally I got up and answered it… Randy was active duty at the time at Sheppard AFB and my family and his family were all calling… the base kinda went on lockdown.. I sat on the couch for days after wards watching CNN and Fox news….
Sheppard eh? Hmmm… you still near there?
I remember that day well. I was waiting for classes to start and watching the news in the student lounge. I watched the second plane hit the twin towers and cried. Four hours later I got the call that my cousin had been working that day. A call i will never forget. I lost one cousin and 3 more had been injured. Every year I think about him and when we first met…He is the one who truly made me see the gift of having God in my life. He sent me my first christian rock tape just because he thought I was ‘cool’ I was 15 he was 35 with a family of his own. Today was a day of tears and memories for me…all happy memories of course. I think of him every day but the anniversary of 9/11 makes me actually bring up the good times we had whenever we saw each other.
how reassuring to know he loved God. 🙂
We actually moved back to Wichita falls earlier this year…. Randy retired after 21 yrs in! He was stationed here for over 10yrs! So it feels like home for him,, and he has a lot of retired friends here too now.
I was sleeping in my bed along side of my sweet Kenslie whom was only 11 1/2 months old. I found out we were pregnant only the day before w/ Tyler. I recieved a phone call from my sister in Cali. crying and begging me to not go to New Jersey the following week. I could hardly comprehend. My sister in-law Kapri was in New York as this was un-folding, she was Ms. Arizona and our entire family was to be heading there in the next week for the Ms. America Pageant. Kapri was safe. Needless to say Bryce and I decided to not go to Jersey and New York (a well planned and exciting trip by the way) do to the safety of our lives being in jeapordy. We had 3 little kids at home to take care of and I was only going to be 6 weeks pregnant, I feel we made a wise choice. I remember watching everything on CNN also and being absolutely devastated…..as I still am today…..
I was in my classroom preparing for my first class. I had the tv on CNN because my students were writing about current events. I saw the coverage from the moment they started reporting about what was happening. It was an accident, just a horrible accident…then the 2nd plane hit.
I was exactly 7 months pregnant with the twins. I had just gotten up and was flipping through the channels and was trying to figure out just what was going on. Then my husband called from work to tell me what had happened. I remember when he came home that night that he wanted to watch everything that was going on and I just went into the nursery we had just finished and rocked in the the rocking chair trying to stay calm for my precious babies. They were born 3 weeks later right as we were going to war. I still have the front page of the paper from the day they were born.
I lived in Horsham Pennsylvania, a small suburb of Philadelphia that is about and hour and a half from Manhattan, two hours from Washington D.C. and close to 3 hours from Shanksville, Pennsylvania. So close, yet so far away.
Hannah was in school and I was in a training class when the first plane hit, by the time the second plane hit I was out of the class and on the way back to my office. Hannah’s school was not letting them out, unless you wanted to go get them and I was so thankful. I knew where she was, I could see the school from my third story office window and with what was happening in the world that is exactly where I wanted her; safe not knowing what was happening in the world around her.
I could write pages about that day and the days to follow.
I was getting ready for work thinking “Oh, that sucks” from hearing news that the first plane had struck. I had no idea until I got to work what was really happening. I recieved numerous phone calls from family asking if I was going to be recalled to active duty. I had been discharged from the Navy in April that year. There has not been a single day since that I haven’t regret getting out of the military. I believe God made me a fighter and I truly desire to return. Unfortunately I don’t think God has that for me right now. I have been negotiating with my wife for a long time and we haven’t been able to come to terms about it. Maybe God wants me to fight for something else? When I think about that day I have to consider the pure evil unleashed upon our world and it makes me angry that I’m not doing a part to help get rid of it. Or am I? I teach my kids as best I can what it means to live for God, not just on Sundays. I try to be a good example, but there are a lot of evil things here that I have to deal with on a daily basis. Do I chew out that guy that just cut me off? Do I get angry at the person who thinks the are priveleged enough to think themselves higher and act that way to just make people angry? I may not compare with what happened on 9/11, but my actions to these things are a struggle at times. If I am unable to conquer the evil in me how can I expect to do it for others? For now, Lord willing, I will work to conquer the evil in me and with the Lords help I can stand and fight the other wars we have in our midst here at home in the US. Like killing innocent unborns, upholding the sanctity of marriage, the other “norms” I am supposed to accept and tolerate. Perhaps in doing that I am better serving God’s purpose for my life and not what I want for it.
I was getting ready for my frist day of student teaching with Daniel. Oh how thankfull I was that I had a very strong Man of God by me that day Thank you Daniel for all the words of wisdome you gave me!
I love the way Ryan realizes that standing up for what right is ALSO a way of fighting evil… there are many wars here on the “homefront” that need our time and attention too. If you aren’t called overseas – you are called where you are planted and can make a difference there. Good perspective.
Kudos to you, Ryan! 🙂