Thursday, September 11, 2008

Do you remember where you were.....

7 years ago, today??
I do, I was at home with my 3 children doing homework with them and wondering why John wasn't home from work yet and why he hadn't called?!  You see, we lived in Germany on a small air base southwest of Frankfurt at the time.  John finally called, and with a HUGE lump in his throat all he could say was *turn on the T.V., get the kids and start praying, I can't say anything else*  I'll never forget what I saw when I first turned on the television.  They were re-running the towers being hit and talking about a plane heading towards the Pentagon and one in PA.  I was in shock and didn't understand fully what I was seeing.  It had to let it sink in...
I got the kids and we sat on the floor in a circle in front of the T.V. holding hands and crying and praying.... Finally, we went outside in the court yard. NO ONE was out. EVERYTHING on base was closed and it was quiet!
People started coming out of their houses (apartments) into the hallways, but not outside.  I didn't know we weren't suppose to be out doors. It took John hours to come home.  They weren't allowed to leave the base he was on for a long time.  He was finally allowed to leave, but of course so was everyone else. Imagine 30,000 American's living in the area.  It took him hours to get through the gates on base where we lived, usually about five minutes at the gate is all it took. People were parking their cars in the fields and walking to the gates and walking home. They checked every car, thoroughly.  Schools were closed the next day, military personnel were not allowed to wear their uniforms off base. When the kids did go back to school, they had chaperones on the buses for months...... Our day to day lives were changed for months to come.....  I noticed people being kinder, more people attending our church,  deeper friendships and a greater sense of pride in being an American!

Do you remember where you were? How did your life change??

God Bless you and the U.S.A.

3 comments:

Barbie said...

Wow Carla! Thank you for sharing that. It is amazing to hear how that one day affected so many of us. It was more personal for some but emotional for all.

polkadot said...

I remember it vividly -- it felt like the end of the world. Still does.

Unknown said...

I had not ever heard how folks on military bases across the world heard the news or felt on Sept. 11. Thanks for sharing that. I was at home getting ready for work. I only had 1 child then, my beautiful special child, Charlie, who was 9 months old. I was getting ready to leave when I saw news footage of the first tower and it was burning. The commentators weren't sure what type of plane had hit the building or if it were a plane at all. Then I saw the 2nd plane hit. I just started praying, called out of work and went to my parent's house, with my baby, of course. I work in downtown Richmond, VA and I didn't want to be near any federal buildings that day. I remember the feelings and events like it had happened just yesterday. God Bless America! Debra