10 Years Ago Today

Today is the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on America on September 11, 2001. I don't have a picture today, at least not yet. I do have memories that are burned in my mind. 


I was teaching 5th grade at Gregory Elementary School in Wilmington. Dad had just retired and was home a lot of the time with Grandma Punce and Mom was still teaching at NHHS. Lauren was in high school. Davy was teaching his first year at Leland Middle School. Davy and I were about to be married in just 11 days. 


A teacher came to my door at Gregory and said that someone had flown into the first Twin Tower in NYC and that the building was crumbling. Mary Ann & I  turned on the TV in our classroom in disbelief. We watched with our 29 students in disbelief as they replayed and reported on the first attach. I remember calling my dad at home, having to repeat over and over why he needed to turn on the TV and watch what was happening. None of us could actually process it the first time we heard it, as if what we were hearing couldn't possibly be true. Over the next hour and a half, my students and I watched the tragic events of the day unfold. My friend and co-worked, Dana Syster, was in a panic because her family in Pennsylvania lived hear the Flight 93 crash site and they were all emergency workers. It was several hours later before she could reach them, to find out that everyone was safe. I remember debriefing with my students over the day, knowing that many of them would go home without having any one to talk with them about what had happened. Nick drew a picture of the event and wrote as a caption "A day that will live in infamy." 


That afternoon, I came home to our house on Masonboro Loop Road and just cried. I couldn't turn on any cable station and remember watching Cartoon Network for the next few days, just because I didn't want to watch the replay again. I couldn't. People all around were flying American flags at their homes and businesses. If you didn't already have one, they were impossible to find at the store because they were flying off the shelves. Heather, who was one of my bridesmaids, called from New Jersey to say that she didn't think she'd be able to make the wedding. As a personal trainer, many of her clients or their family members had worked in the Twin Towers. She had too many funerals to attend. I haven't heard from Heather, but once or twice, since. That day changed us all in so many ways. 


At our wedding, on September 22, 2001, we had a moment of silence and a prayer for those who were lost and their families. To this day, I don't need an anniversary celebration or a tv special to remind me of that day. I won't forget it. I never could understand as elders talked about how an event like this, JFK's assassination, Pearl Harbor, etc., could remain so vivid. I do, now. I didn't know anyone there or who was killed, but I didn't need to. 


This week there have been many tributes going around. I tried to express my thoughts and emotions, but nothing seemed sufficient. The facebook page of Visit Cherokee posted this one yesterday, and it is the only thing I've ready to seems to be able to express my thoughts as well... 


To all those who lost loved ones, who fought bravely for the preservation of life during 09-11-01; to all those who prayed, cried, and gave for those who were lost and to rebuild after the reservation; to those who over the last decade have fought to protect us from those who would dare to harm us again - we honor you today and forever. Sgi.