Where Were You....9/11/01 🍋
This is one day in history that I will always vividly remember.
19 years ago today I was working at The Newscenter in my hometown, Bel Air, Maryland. Along with gifts, we sold newspapers, magazines, books, candles, etc. We were sorting out the daily newspapers when one of our customers came running in the store. He was so frantic and helpless and just didn't know what he was doing. He was trying to explain about the first plane hitting the tower but we were in such disbelief that we didnt know what to believe. After him, another customer, Mr. Buckle who was well known around town for his horse farm, came in to get his regular daily paper and a Racing Form. (He always bet horse races) He explained to us the events of the towers being hit. (We didn't have radio or tv to inform us so we were just going on hearsay) I remember feeling shocked, sad, and empty. The customers started rolling in to get their papers and having conversations with tears with each other over the fact that it might be a terrorist attack. We decided to close early that day so we could go home and be with our families.
At that time, I had my own apartment in the basement of my grandparent's house. So I went home and sat with them and all we did for the next 24-48 hours was watch the news. We watched every clip, heard every story, saw every injury, and so on. When I returned to work a few days later, we were bombarded with freshly printed magazines and newspapers covering the terrorist attacks. Every photo was printed and every death was shown. Photos of folks jumping from the buildings, quotes from the heros who took down the Flight 93 terrorists, words from the families who lost their loved ones. It was all there. For weeks and even months every cover of the USA Today, New York Post, Baltimore Sun, Washington Post, New York Daily News, Time Magazine, People Magazine and every other printed newspaper or magazine was a harsh daily reminder of the evil that clouded our country.
Aside from the hurt and sadness I felt, I also felt peace. Peace because our country was coming together, together. We were uniting as a country to pary for our people and our landmarks. We were uniting in patriotism. It didn't matter who the president was or who you voted for. It didn't matter if you were Republican or Democrat. What mattered was that we were all Americans. We were citizens of a country who needed every single one of us. We joined together to give blood and pay respects. We joined together to hold prayer visuals, prayer around the flagpoles, candlelight services. We were ONE country. I was and still am proud to be an American. I love my country.
I'm not proud of the division that has come between us. We need to work on that. But today is a great day to remember the lives lost 19 years ago. The towers, the Pentagon, Flight 93. Remember the photo of the three firemen with our flag. Remember. Don't forget. ✌🇺🇸❤🤍💙
