…………I remember that morning well………….What a glorious Sept morning it was here on the Long Island Sound. It was the first cool crisp morning of Sept……a cloudless blue sky…..everything wonderful about the coming of fall was in the air………I was in the kitchen squeezing oranges for our morning juice. Jac was upstairs in her mother’s room getting her ready for the day. I turned on the TV and put on the morning news…..everything was normal, and the big discussion was about the beautiful weather……then, in a split second, everything changed……It was reported a plane had flown into one of the buildings of the World Trade Towers, and at first it was thought to be a private plane. No one even thought that it might be a commercial plane. The live pictures started coming in. I ran upstairs and turned the TV on in Marianne’s room [Jac’s mother], and we watched in amazement and horror. Then Jac’s mother said another plane flew into the other building, but we thought it was a rerun of the first plane…..we were wrong…………….That is the day the world changed for all Americans…..never to be the same again. As more and more news came in and the true story was being told…I felt sicker and sicker. Then the news of two more planes, and the Pentagon was hit. My nephew James worked and continues to work in the pentagon….he was safe. We all know what happened in the days and weeks that followed. Where I live many people worked in the financial district of NY, and many worked in the towers…..they never came home. When the names of the passengers on the planes was finally released , after the families were formally notified, I found out I knew someone on the plane from Boston that hit the first tower……………..Today is the day to remember, and there will be many services in my community, but there isn’t a day that I don’t remember the plume of smoke we could see from our lawn on that glorious morning rising from the ruble of what once were two magnificent buildings…..the pride of NYC.
I only wish that the children today, like my nephews Jonathan and Peter’s two newborns, could know what it was like to grow up in the innocent 50s. Where our days were filled with hide go seek, tag, cowboys and Indians, King of the Hill………a “Dick and Jane” life………..What happened?…………..Today is another day, another time, and nothing will ever bring back those wonderful days….Today we pray and remember, and hope for a better tomorrow……………………………………..God Bless…………………………much Love………………………………Louis
So beautifully written, Louis. I, too, often shake my head in wonder – wondering what has happened to our world.
rae
I don’t think any of us will ever forget that day. It was like the day of the Kennedy assassination when everyone remembers exactly where they were and what they were doing when they first heard about it. Like so many churches across the country, our church had a service that night. Our parishioners wanted to gather and be together. Living so close to DC at that time, everyone there either knew someone or knew someone who knew someone who had been directly affected. Or who had had a close escape. A friend from childhood, a concert pianist in NYC, had not been able to get a call through to us to see if we were OK. OG was often at the Pentagon and she didn’t know if he had been there that day or not. (He was at the Dept. of State, which was evacuated as soon as the report that it was also targeted came in. But none of our four children had been able to make contact that their dad had been safely evacuated. Nor did I have any news.) By the time my friend in NYC got through to us, she and her family had also been at their church earlier. When the rector asked if anyone knew anyone who had been there or who was not as yet accounted for, she said that about half of the parishioners raised their hand. She and her husband raised their hands as they had yet to hear that OG was OK. Many of the parents of the children at their church or their daughter’s school had perished. My sister-in-law, in NYC on a buying trip from Dallas, would have been in the WTC had she not awakened sick and called in late for her meeting there.
We were truly fortunate that none of our close family members or friends had perished. But of course everyone was deeply affected. And the reconnaissance planes that flew over our home for a least a month or two afterwards were a constant reminder. None of us will ever forget.
Dear Louis: Thank you for your lovely tribute to all those who were so terribly impacted by this day 13 years ago. As the proud mother of 2 firefighters, it holds a terribly painful spot in all our hearts. My boys went to New York to help in recovery, but mostly to visit families, other fire fighters, and, worst, attend funerals, because there just weren’t enough firefighters to do so. They have remained close to many of the guys they met, and return each year for St Paddys day, when they visit the site, march in the parade, and, yes, toss down some beers in loving remembrance…..
Louis, I think know who you are referring to who was on the plane from Boston–she had flown in from Rome via Boston. I occassionally see her sister walking in the 6th arrondissment of Paris, where she lives. So sad….one of the flight attendants on the AA flight from Boston was from my town, too.
I’ll never forget the color of the sky that day—I called it an “Utrillo Blue”—it was so bright and beautiful. I was on a business trip in Princeton, NJ that day………..
Yes….it is probably the same beautiful person. I too remember how blue and perfect the sky was….that added to the horror of the day…..an absolutely beautiful morning obliterated.
The innocence of the fifties was shattered by the assassination of JFK, and there were many of those innocent Roy Rogers boys who went off to Viet Nam. Every generation has it’s day of reckoning I think. We remember, we honor, we somehow remain hopeful, and the beautiful days do seem to outweigh the bad in the big picture. Eat dessert first!
Thank you Louis for the wonderful tribute. It brought back memories for me. I was at work when someone in the office told us about the first planes in NY. I live in Maine, but have relatives in NJ who work in NYC, so immediately I was worried for them….then came the Pentagon plane and I was really scared, as my oldest daughter was at Georgetown and interning at the Dept of Education downtown. It was pre-cell phone for her, so no way to reach her….then the news about a fourth plane heading for the White House or the Capitol! I finally got word from her that they were evacuating the city and she would call as soon as she could! It was several hours later before I heard from her…she got the last subway out, and the route she had to take had a stop at the Pentagon!! I believe the stop was on the other side of the complex from the bombing, but don’t remember all the details of that, now. As you can imagine the subway was overloaded with passengers trying to get home….and it never did go the whole route, so many including my daughter had to walk the rest of the way….when I did finally talk with her she told me that the National Guard was patrolling campus! It was quite a while before my anxiety for her subsided! I thank God for my daughter’s safety that day, and offer sincere condolences to those who suffered much worse consequences on 9/11.
A beautiful tribute.
I was still working at the time. I had just come out of a client interview when the news came over the radio. As soon as we heard the news of the 2nd plane and the Pentagon I got a ride to mother’s house so she wouldn’t be alone. Dad had died a few months previous and my sister and her partner lived near Capitol Hill. My daughter was to fly out of Chicago that day to her next Navy training station and had to make her way back to Great Lakes.
Oh for the less complicated days of our childhood.
Beautifully written poignant remembrance of a day no one living then will ever forget! I, too, grew up in the 1950s when days were lazier, life was less rushed, and at least as a child summer went on forever with endless days playing outside. A rainy day meant playing inside with my dolls or reading a good book. Our generation had its worries and problems, but they were not the terrorism of today which is a bigger threat. My prayers go out to all those who lost loved ones on Sept. 11, 2001 for they are the ones who live with this forever in a heartbreaking way.
Indeed a day, like the day President Kennedy was killed, that we shall never forget. My flag is flying on the house today.
I also lament that today’s children don’t get to know simpler times of hide/seek, cowboys and Indians, and hopscotch chalked onto the sidewalk. At the same time though, I distinctly remember the hide under your desk drills.
My remembrance of that day was the gorgeous weather…that sky was something to behold. I had dropped my husband at the Huntington (Long Island) train station to go to his job at ABC News. I went to my law office, and the attorney in the adjacent office had the television on. None of us could believe what we were seeing. After the horror set in, my first thought was, where is my husband whom I had left at the train station to board a LIRR train into NYC? Thankfully, I heard from him several hours later. His was the first train to be turned around at the Woodside station. He could see the smoke in the air from the destruction of the Towers. He asked me to pick him up at the Huntington train station. He didn’t know which train, or the time at which any trains would arrive, but we just estimated a time, and, unbelievably, got it right. When we found each other, it was as if all had changed for everyone. People were walking around like zombies…talking to themselves. We looked up and there were fighter planes in the air over our home. What was our world coming too? I remember trick or treating with no parents, etc…we went everywhere by ourselves…in those good old days. We thought about the cold war and crouching down under our school desks to keep safe! Different times for sure. My husband was able to return to work the next day on one of the only LIRR trains running, and I did not see him for several days thereafter since they were on the air constantly. Let this horror never happen again, please.
Ellen, Huntington, Long Island is my home town—born and raised!
Sheila/Sheesh
Sheesh..what a great place to live! My husband loves it, and he’s from Boston. But, he is a tried and true Yankees fan now.
Beautifully said Louis. We too were at home with several TVs on when the events started to unfold. I will never ever forget that feeling and those images and knowing that nothing would ever be the same again. We drove from VA to Maine a few days later for a planned vacation and we looked at horror at the smoking hole where those beautiful buildings had been as we passed by the city.
AHHH, those carefree days of the 50’s, when we dressed up to go the movies, rode everywhere in town with our roller skates hanging from the handlebars, wrote letters to our friends, and so much more innocence. The era of instant EVERYTHING, including gratification, has changed the landscape.
We too worry about our children and grandchildren and what the world will hold for them. Thanks again for your thoughts Louis!!
I remember having to pick up my twin boys from kindergarden within 2 hours of it happening. As I pulled up the school drive there was a policeman and he had to search all the cars before we could pick up our kids. I started to cry and he apologized. It just makes me sick to think that someone could intentionally harm these innocent children who didn’t have a care in the world. The world completely changed after that moment.
Thank you. It is a day I’ll never forget. I was working in a law firm, and the paralegal next to me had her radio on. I was working on some discovery and suddenly we heard – she turned up the volume – one by one staff and lawyers crowded into our office. Everyone looking from one to the other with our mouths open and expressions of horror.
These years later, I reflect on how much we took for granted and how different things are now. I give thanks for every day, and every day I stop to enjoy and savor the beauty of something – a bird, a garden, a child’s smile, witnessing a kind deed.
Thanks for your remembrance!! I was getting our last son off to school to the bus stop and was watching the cable local news channel and they mentioned a plane flying into the tower. As soon as I saw the hole, I knew it was not a small plane. My DH worked at the WFC (World Financial Center) across the street from the WTC (World Trade Center)and arrived just in time when the 1st plane hit. By the time he had gotten out of the subway and lobby of the WTC to the street, the 2nd plane had hit. The bridge that crosses between both buildings quickly became unusable. By the time he reached me by cell phone 45 minutes later, he just told me to call his Mom. He spent the better part of the day at a luncheonette near Penn Station waiting for the all clear of the tunnels so he could take the LIRR train back again. Yes, it was an awful day and in the weeks to come it was sickening.
Beautiful remembrance, Louis. I worked for 21 years on the 54th floor of 1WTC. As fate would have it, by 2001, I had moved on to another job in downtown Brooklyn. I knew a number of people from my old organization that died that day and a firefighter with whom I attended grammar school. After the first tower fell, I left work and started to walk home (no subways, buses jammed). It was like walking thru the nuclear winter — ash and smoke in the air, tiny bits of burned paper, and an awful, awful smell. Even though I live in Brooklyn, because of the prevailing winds the smell in the air lasted for months. A terrible time that we will never forget. This summer I visited the new 9/11 Museum and I highly recommend it to anyone visiting NYC. It is exceptionally well done and a fitting tribute to all who perished that day.
Thank you Louis for sharing your memories of the day. I too yearn for my 16 grandchildren (1 born just yesterday in Stuttgart, Germany) to have been able to grow up in the simpler days of our own youth. I ache when I see what is impacting their young lives – some of it very negatively. No question our “world” will never be the same after 9/11. The parents of the grandchild born yesterday were both in DC at the time of the pentagon attack. Our son, along with many others, had to be treated for ricin after 9/11 when the Senate building where he was then working got mailings of ricin putting everyone working in the building in jeopardy. Now he works under the direction of the European Command directly focused on the protection of Americans in the European theatre and around the world. A career set-in-stone by 9/11. God help us to have the resolve to continue to protect ourselves from another attack like that one. And to reach out and help one another in need like firefighters and rescue workers from around the country did at ground zero and in PA and DC after the attack. God bless the loved ones who still mourn those lost.
Beautifully remembered and expressed, Louis. I could tell your message today came from the heart. I sat less than a mile (walking distance) from Dulles International Airport, preparing for the day’s work in my office, as terrorists passed through security on their way to plow AA #77 into the Pentagon. One of the staff members in my present office was to be on that flight (in the jumpseat on the flight deck) but decided on the United flight to L.A. instead because they served Starbucks coffee (American Airlines didn’t). Saved by a cup of joe. It was a day of horror and sadness that, as we all agree, changed our lives forever. When we were dismissed from our work, it took me an hour to emerge from our parking lot.
In remembrance of 9/11, the Starbucks-loving aviation safety inspector (ASI) was asked to recount his story for us this morning. I learned that he was headed to California to investigate a cargo aircraft that my office once certificated; it was in the desert. The supervisor of this inspector told him the day before that he once had to perform the same inspection and suggessted he take AA #77 to L.A. It was only on the way to the airport on 9/11 that the ASI decided he wanted the United flight with its Starbucks coffee. (ASIs need only to flash their credentials to board a flight — the surprise element is good, I suppose.)
Anyway, they first heard the news from the control tower. After they figured out what was going on, the captain told the ASI that there was an FBI agent on board with a gun. The ASI was asked to check out that the agent was legit, which he did. The agent was. When they were landing, the ASI’s father-in-law, who worked on the ground for United at that time, flagged them in. The ASI said, “There’s my father-in-law,” to which the captain said,”This really is a weird day.” The ASI went back to the office, where his supervisor nearly keeled over at the sight of him (he had thought the ASI was on the doomed flight). The ASI and two others were the first federal agents at the Pentagon that afternoon. A father of six, I asked him how many of his children were born after 9/11. Answer: 5.
Thank you for this beautiful and touching remembrance. You described perfectly the childhood days of growing up in the 50s.
What a lovely tribute to those we lost. I too, yearn for those uncomplicated, carefree days days of our childhood for the youth of today- they have no idea how innocent we were… I will never forget where I was and who I was with on that fateful day as we watched in horror. As our communities remember and celebrate those we lost, let us pray for peace and safety.