What were you doing on September 11, 2001? I remember that day vividly. It was Katie's first day at mother's day out. Pete was taking her to school as I sat at home with two-week-old Andrew, nursing and trying to placate him. Pete and Katie had been gone for mere seconds when I heard the phone ring.
"Turn on the news," Pete said. "I just heard a bizarre report on the radio that a plane flew into the World Trade Center. I want to know if this is true, or another War of the Worlds."
I quickly turned on the news to find Paula Zahn reporting live what was happening in New York City.
"Oh my God. It's true, Pete."
I sat glued to the television for hours watching the truth unfold before my eyes on how terrorists in airplanes had attacked the twin towers, the Pentagon and crashed in Pennsylvania. Pete came home to watch this horrific event with me. We witnessed the towers crumbling and falling, the smoke and debris that filled the air and the interviews played over and over of witnesses to the attacks. We saw replays of the plane crashing into the towers, the people running and screaming in total shock and terror. Pete and I talked about how our world had changed because of this terrorist attack and would never be the same. We were both saddened and fearful at the lost of America's innocence. Being the post-birth hormonal momma I was at the time, I cried and cried. A huge depression came over me in the weeks that followed as I watched again and again too much of the coverage aired on the news channels. My delivery of Andrew had been especially tough and the poor baby was extremely fussy because of acid reflux we had yet to discover. I soon found myself deep in the throttle of postpartum depression. Luckily, I have a wonderful OB/GYN who recognized my ailment and helped set me back on track, but the journey was long and hard. My body was reacting negatively to the shock it had undergone during Andrew's delivery and the wheels were set in motion for what would eventually lead up to my hysterectomy after Nicholas was born.
Today marks the eight-year anniversary of this tragic event that foreplayed months of darkness for me. I am mixed with bittersweet emotions; happy that I am no longer going through the depression and physical problems I endured, sad remembering the victims and families of 9/11 and the helplessness I felt during that time.
We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.
~2 Chronicles 20:12
1 comment:
Hard to believe it's been 8 years!! I too remember that day too... I was on a hospital in my own hell! I had just checked myself in the day before! It was on the tv's there but my mind wasn't quite computing! I just remember Chad freaking out on the payphone and I was just blankly listening thinking that this was serious but it didn't set ... I thought I was dying! Amazing to think back to that day and be so oblivious....
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