Remembering 9/11/2001

I can still remember the alarm clock going off...I heard on the radio someone say "there is smoke coming out of the top of the building".  Then my Husband hit the snooze and rolled back over sleeping.  I got up to go to the gym, not knowing until I got in the car and hearing on the radio that an airplane had flown into one of the Twin Towers.  How could this be...it had to be an accident.  By the time I got to the gym, another plane had flown into the Pentagon.  Dear Jesus, help us please!!

There was not a lot of exercise going on that morning, we were all glued to the televisions.  I managed to pull myself away and come home.  My Husband still had no idea that life had changed forever.  

When I got home, I pulled him aside and told him what had happened. 

At the time my kids were 8, 6 and 5.  What was I going to say to them?  Was I going to send them to school that day or have them stay home?? 

We all went into our son's room tried to explain what had happened, prayed, talked, cried and prayed some more.  Decided to go ahead and put our children's lives in God's hands and sent them to school.


In June, 2007, I had the opportunity to visit new York City for the first time with my girlfriends.  Needless to say, we had a blast.  We did make it a priority to visit Ground Zero.  Most of the debris had been cleared but there were still pieces of floors laying about with the rusted re-bar bent and sticking out.  That made it more of a reality than just a construction zone.  We visited the time line of that day, including before, during and after photos.  What a solemn place.  We then went down to the subway area, they had drawings by children that lost family members.  That is where I lost it.  I still tear up just thinking of the pictures and what the kids wrote.   We then walked up the street and saw where they temporarily moved the I-beam cross.  Some of the metal was still wrapped around it.

  World Trade Center Cross

So touching, so moving.

This past March, I took my oldest daughter, Colette, to New York for her high school graduation gift.  She wasn't crazy about visiting Ground Zero, But I knew that it was something we had to do.  I wasn't sure which stop we should get off the subway at, but as we past the stop that is still closed, I knew where we were.  We came out of the subway station and things had changed so much in four years, it was amazing!!  Unfortunately, because of all the changes the time line and photographs were gone.  But as we rounded the corner of a building this is what we saw:

We saw this memorial to all of the first responders that lost their lives. 
We worked our way around to the other side of the construction zone and was able to look across to where the memorial was going to be.  

I'm really not coming up with any profound things to say at this point.  What is there to say.  I'm so sorry that all of these lives were lost.  I'm so sorry for the families that lost loved ones. I'm so sorry for all the young men and women that are putting their lives on the line to protect our freedoms while at the same time, I'm so proud of them for stepping up and volunteering to fight for our country. 
In the midst of it all, I'm still proud to be an American and pray that God will continue to bless our country!

Renee'