17 different women, 36 crazy children, 0 babies in utero
Adventures, Advice and Questions from a group of Mormon women who met in Queens, NY and have now scattered all over the place.
 

Monday, September 11, 2006

Remembering September 11th

Being that we are a group of women who are bound by our shared NYC experience, a few contributors decided to take some time to sit down and write about our experience on September 11th, 2001. While some of us actually lived in NYC at the time, others were still part of their pre-NYC lives. But, I think all would agree that it didn't matter where you lived on September 11th, 2001, no one has forgotten that day. I know for me, the act of writing down these memories was emotionally draining, but emotionally healing as well. Thanks for letting us share.

**We have closed the comments on these posts and would ask that any 9/11 related comments/memories be posted on this thread instead.

“May you never forget what is worth remembering, nor ever remember what is best forgotten" - Old Irish Blessing

posted by This is Carrie @ 9/11/2006 06:24:00 AM   add to kirtsy


19 Comments:

  • I know that was very hard for you guys to do. You all did a beautful job. I felt so connected with each of you as I read them. Thank you for sharing!
    posted by Blogger Kelly at 9/11/2006 05:33:00 AM  



  • Kage,

    I'm finally making a public comment on your blog. I want those who read this to know how much you comforted our ward on the following Sunday during Sacrament meeting. Kage sang "Going Home" during the meeting - there wasn't a dry eye in the congregation. Even the organist who played for her was crying. There were people in that room that I'd never seen shed a tear before - Kage's voice and spirit touched everyone who was present in that meeting. I don't know if I have ever heard a song as powerful or sung more poetically as that day.

    I once asked her how she gets through emotional songs like that and she told me she thinks of vegetables, which I think she's talked about before on this blog.

    Kage, how nice to be included in your circle of friends. And thank you for the spirit of the song you shared with us five years ago. I will never forget it.

    H
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 9/11/2006 07:24:00 AM  



  • Carrie-

    I remember waking up to the news reports coming over our radio that day and worrying about you and Todd. I got through to mom and dad after they had spoken to you and knew that you were safe, but I also knew that you must be unbelievably upset. I have often wanted to ask you about your experience that day but I didn't want to make you relive such an unpleasant experience. I appreciate you sharing your memories and was touched by them. I am sorry that you had to experience so intimately such a horrible thing but I know that it has contributed to the compassion that you show to others and the zeal that you have for life. Thank you again for sharing.
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 9/11/2006 08:14:00 AM  



  • Kage,
    I was thinking just this morning about you and your CRIB friends. I was also thinking about your wonderful posts about your love of NYC and the spirit of the people there. I posted on my blog today a journal entry that I had written a year after the events. My brother and father had their international investment office there on the 78th floor of the North Tower. All in their office were safe, including my brother that had worked late into the night and was in his midtown apartment sleeping, and my father had been on a private flight home to Nebraska the night before. My heart still aches when we remember the events of the day. Thank you for sharing yours.

    my blog is www.wendysues.blogspot.com

    (I still haven't figured out how to do a link on comments. . .)
    posted by Blogger wendysue at 9/11/2006 09:20:00 AM  



  • wendysue, I remember hearing that your brother was safe and feeling relieved. He was the only person I knew who worked there.

    H, thanks for your comment. I had actually forgotten that I sang. I am glad it was a comfort to you and others, and yes I often have to think of inanimate, random words, phrases or objects when I am faced with the difficult task of singing in that type of situation.

    nyc crib girls, I too am blessed to have read your posts. It helps me understand a little bit more why this day was so life changing for you. And what blows my mind is that you are 3 New Yorkers, who were not even related to anyone that perished....so imagine the range and scope this event had on the millions of people that were in that city that morning, experiencing it the same as you.

    This morning I watched a rebroadcast of the TODAY show from 01 on MSNBC. It was so interesting watching it knowing what was about to happen, and to see our lives change again from before to after. And when I flipped over the name-readings, I just couldn't stop tearing up.
    posted by Blogger Kage at 9/11/2006 09:58:00 AM  



  • Well girls, we did it. I'm so glad that we wrote these posts and are taking time on the Crib today to remember 9/11. Like Kage said, it has been helpful to read others experiences on that day.

    I watched about an hour on CNN pipeline this morning, a re-broadcast of the morning of 9/11 in real time. I expected to be a sobbing mess, but instead I watched it like an anthropologist. I never saw all of early pictures and commentary, the hope in the announcers voices that this was an accident, a navigational error, a small prop plane. It was facinating to watch...until they showed people on the streets running...and then my emotional self remembered.
    posted by Blogger chloe at 9/11/2006 11:14:00 AM  



  • Ladies, thank you so much for furrowing up your hearts to share this will us.

    Every American has their story of that day, but not every American was actually there- Thank you again for sharing.
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 9/11/2006 12:34:00 PM  



  • made me smile today: this family photo
    posted by Blogger Kage at 9/11/2006 01:11:00 PM  



  • I was out of town for the past week and wasn't able to post my 9/11 story. Reading all of your heart-felt experiences has made me so contemplative. What a day! I'm pretty sure everyone remembers what they were doing on Sept. 11th five years ago, whether you were lived in NYC, DC, or not.

    I was travelling during Sept. 11th and did not fly back to New York until the end of the month. I remember that flight SO VIVIDLY. I remember my friend and I holding hands as we approached the city. I was so grateful to not be alone on that flight when I finally saw the city that had been so damaged while I was gone. We flew right over the wreckage and it was heartbreaking. New York is the most resilient place I've ever lived. It is full of life, no matter what hardships it has faced.

    Thanks for your stories.
    posted by Blogger Beth at 9/11/2006 03:49:00 PM  



  • This is the first year I have allowed myself to go back to that day and I only did it because I knew all my Tales girls would be right there with me. I used to think there was something wrong with me because my emotions were still so raw - even after five years. But it's been nice to find out that I'm not alone.

    I've been thinking about what Marian and chloe said about seeking counseling for post-traumatic stress. I remember seeing those signs on the subway as well. But I think back then, I thought - "there are people who were affected by this far worse than you. You did not lose a brother, a father, a mother, a sister. You did not actually see anyone jump from a building. You did not walk from the rubble with dust in your hair. They are the ones that need couseling. So buck up - you'll be fine."

    Thanks to everyone for your stories. It has been theraputic (and cheaper than actual therapy).

    It is so true that no matter where you were that day, we all hurt for those that were lost in the ugliness that occurred that day.
    posted by Blogger This is Carrie at 9/11/2006 05:41:00 PM  



  • Carrie, I think we all felt that way - exactly as you said it. In fact, I'm sure I repeated those exact words to myself many many many times. And honestly, even after leaving NYC and realizing that 9/11 anniversaries/reminders/anything I randomly connected with the day hit me a lot harder than the people around me, I still didn't go talk to someone about it. I was in counseling for other matters, but 9/11 came up and the therapist could tell from my reaction that I was NOT okay, so she probed and got the tale. And it did help to clarify my thoughts, but it didn't stop me from ugly crying today.
    posted by Blogger marian at 9/11/2006 05:58:00 PM  



  • I can't even imagine how all of you felt and what you all went through being so near to the senseless violence. I know it's kind of turned into a "where were you?" type of thing --a lot like Kennedy's assasination.

    I was on Lake Powell in a houseboat, completely oblivious that anything had happened. When we reached shore the next day (9/12), we heard about it and we just couldn't believe it. We found a gas station on the highway in the middle of nowhere that had a satellite dish and found out that it wasn't just some dumb rumor.

    The worst part was no cell phone coverage and the panic that ensued until we could find out if Carrie and Todd were okay. We had to just pray and wonder for 4 hours. Carrie --that was some of the worst 4 hours of my life. I was so relieved to talk to Grandpa and find out you guys were all right.

    For the next 5 days, all I did was watch the television. I just couldn't believe it. Our sweet 6 month old #1 was really the only thing that would pry me away from the TV.

    Thanks you guys, for telling us your stories. You are all amazing women.
    posted by Blogger Cheryl at 9/12/2006 06:46:00 AM  



  • My 9/11 experience was similar to many of yours -- the fear, worry, phone calls, trudging home across the Queens bridge as black smoke billowed from downtown. That night (or week) I couldn't sleep because my mind seemed to dwell on How Would I Have Felt inside the WTC at death's door, deciding whether to jump or let the fire consume me, being trapped under heavy debris, dying a horrific death and seeing it happen to those around me. (I'm just glad Cantor Fitzgerald did NOT hire me that summer previous when I interviewed with them, or I'd have been there above the 101st floor.)

    That, to me, is the real memory of September 11th -- those individuals who really did suffer at the hands of terrorists who hate us more than they love their own children, like Kevin Cosgrove in his 911 call just before he died in the tower's collapse.

    There really is evil in this world. Only the inspiring stories of heroism, of selflessness and knowing God lives have helped me feel a sort of "healing" or sense of security after that horrific day.
    posted by Blogger Legendary Pink Dot at 9/12/2006 04:09:00 PM  



  • The morning of 9/11/01 began like any other day, except I was up earlier to work at the FHC at Church. Chloe's dad for some reason had on the TV and told me that a plane had hit the WTC. The phone rang and it was Chloe saying that she was OK. I told her that was good and I was very calm. In Washington DC the sun was shining and the sky was a bright blue and, though I thought her call was odd I accepted the sweet thought that she loved me and her dad. Then a second plane hit the other tower and suddenly it wasn't an accident. I continued on to the FHC at Church and no one there had heard the news, though I had begun to shake, but carried on. Then I arrived home to learn that two more planes, one hitting the Pentagon and the other crashing in Pa, had been on a deadly mission. My son, Chole's brother, was working downtown Washington when the plane hit the Pentagon and had taken a cab ride all the way home, fearing to take the subway and there he sat glued to our TV and very shaken. It was then that I let myself realize that our world, here, the cities in which my family lived, loved and worked, was a target for terrorists. TV coverage continued to show more and more devastation and, though we had always had the motto, "Be Prepared!," and had 72 hr. kits ready and waiting, we honestly did not know what to do. Our other daughter was at school and asked to come home. We said no, that she was safer in the Va. mountains at school than at home. I think we were all in shock just believing that this could happen here in the USA. We posted our flag, we put flags on our cars, we listened to many "wise" people on the news, but we felt like helpless targets. Two years passed, and on 9/11/03 Chloe's grandfather, my father, had a massive stroke and was clinicly dead, though on a respirator. I remember phoning Chloe at 7 a.m. of that day to tell her. She said that she would be in the Wash. DC Metro area as soon as she could and could someone pick her up at the train. In my own grief over my dad, I knew that I was hoping for her presence, yet knowing that asking her to get on a train in NYC with her baby to come to Washington on this day was so very much to expect. It was at that moment that I knew how very much she loved her family, because she came. She not only came, but she orchestrated a memorial service/funeral when no one else was able to pull it together. Love, M
    posted by Blogger chloe at 9/12/2006 09:12:00 PM  



  • Oh mom, thanks so much (my mom posted as "Chloe" in the post previous to this one). I've always told my mom that I was impressed by how calm she was on the phone with me during the events of 9/11 - it made a big difference in my ability to cope. Love you mom.
    posted by Blogger chloe at 9/12/2006 09:52:00 PM  



  • What amazing stories! Thank you all for sharing. It seems you have a great support system here at Tales From the Crib.
    posted by Anonymous Anonymous at 9/13/2006 08:40:00 AM  



  • Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and memories. This has also been my first year to really look back and assess my feelings from that day and to try to better understand what happened that day.

    I was in Southern California at the time.

    (I'm copying Carrie's format since all I have are short memories and its the easiest way for me to write it out)

    I remember exactly where I was when I first heard what happened - at work.

    I remember that we had co-workers in the air at the time.
    I remember worrying about them.

    I remember worrying about the people I knew in NY at the time: Carrie and Todd and my best Friend Melissa (who had just started going to FIT).
    I remember logically knowing that physically they were okay because they shouldn't have been at the towers but was worried for what they would emotionally experience actually being in the city at the time.

    I remember finally talking to my friend melissa and her telling me how they had evacuated her dorm room.
    I remember her telling me she wanted to come home.

    I remember having to delete client contacts from our client list who had been in the towers.

    I remember visiting NYC for the first time severals months afterwards.
    I remember staying at a hotel in the financial district.
    I remember walking from my hotel room to where the towers had been.
    I remember seeing all the tributes and being sad.
    I remember looking at Ground Zero from a viewing point and seeing what appeared to be a medium-sized pipe.
    I remember someone telling me that it was the subway tunnel.
    I remember then really understanding how massive those towers were and being filled with sadness on how tragic and horrific it all really was.
    posted by Blogger tamrobot at 9/13/2006 09:15:00 AM  



  • I've often wondered about people's experiences on 9/11 since I moved to NY 2 years ago. I haven't really wanted to ask though. Thanks everyone for sharing. What an emotional read.
    posted by Blogger Katie at 9/13/2006 05:22:00 PM  



  • Thank you for taking the time and emotional energy to post your experiences on 9/11. I have been reflecting on them all week as I've remembered the events of that day. Thanks for sharing, it was beautiful.
    posted by Blogger Tandy at 9/15/2006 09:14:00 PM  



Post a Comment

<< Home