Seven Years Ago – September 11th

Sep 11th, 2008 Written By Cheryl Smith

I remember it like it was yesterday. One of those moments that stays in your memory banks forever.

At the time, I was working at the Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce. We started hearing reports about what was happening and turned on the television that was normally reserved for playing VHS videos. We carted the tv (on one of those old metal two-tiered rolling stands with a cabinet beneath) into the hallway and watched Peter Jennings cover the story as it unfolded.

A second plane. And then we saw the tower crumble, right before our eyes, on live television.

Smoke billowed. People everywhere.

Confusion. Less. Fear.

What I remember most about that day was an overwhelming sense of uncertainty. I called my mother, who was in Georgia, to hear her voice and make sure she was OK. I called others I loved and cared about, to make sure they were OK and to have a sense of connection. And I prayed.

I prayed with my colleagues at the office. I prayed by myself. I prayed with my children. We all needed that sense of connection with a God we can turn to in uncertain times.

Much has changed in the days since that first 9/11. What hasn’t changed is my need for connection with the people I love and a God I can trust in uncertain times.

How about you? Where were you Seven Years Ago? What do you remember most?

http://Url Lisa M

Cheryl, the memory of 911 will indeed haunt me forever. For the first time in my life I felt vulnerable and that life and loved ones should never be taken for granted. I did go through a period of doubt, until I heard from my aunt a few days later: She told me she had just returned from the funeral of one of the families killed while aboard UA flight 175, the Hanson family (the parents and their little girl Christine were killed when their flight plunged into one of the twin towers). She said her boss–he was the parent of the husband and grandfather to Christine, 2 1/2 years at the time–had such an enormous sense of faith and love that she walked away from the funeral feeling better than she did before. For some reason that comforted me. To know that someone who had lost so much, his son, daughter in law, and granddaughter, was able to tenaciously cling to his faith despite this unfathomable and overwhelming tragedy.
http://www.culturesmithconsulting.com/news Cheryl Smith

Thanks Lisa. I’ve found that to be true in my own experience as well. I’m encouraged in my faith when others who are struggling with tough issues hold fast to their own.
http://www.rickwolff.com Rick Wolff

I was late for work, as usual. I used to listen to talk radio then (before podcasts), and I could get New York City’s WABC clearly. Curtis Sliwa and Ron Kuby were the morning hosts, speculating about the causes of the first crash, keeping open the possibility of a clumsy accident. I remember stopping on Route 120, just opposite the entrance for Westchester County Airport, listening in horror at the live audio feed of a professional radio journalist who couldn’t stop repeating “Oh God” and tell us what he saw.I had to stop and listen for a minute or two.

Since I work at a Gannett newspaper, the difference between the journalists and the business employees was more acute than ever. They called all the writers in to produce a special afternoon edition. (I remember the word “EXTRA” was the exact typeface as the headline, “TERROR”; whenever I see it framed in an office, I always read it as a phrase.) When anyone in any department, such as we in Marketing, asked if there was anything we could do to help them, the answer was to just stay out of the way. All we could do is pop our heads in occasionally to see the TV in the VP’s office. There seemed to be an atrocity an hour, give or take.
A co-worker noticed, “Hey, this is September 11. Nine-one-one.”

The next day, when flights resumed, as I walked out of the building, a jet taking off from the aforementioned airport roared over us.

I ducked.
http://www.rickwolff.com Rick Wolff

I forgot to mention: two weeks later, with bookings we were loath to change, my wife and I vacationed in the Netherlands. In the airport we saw New York souvenirs, some of which featured the World Trade Center. We bought some, thinking (erroneously) that they’d be rare from that point on. On our return trip, an attendant in Schiphol Airport asked us the routine silly question about any strangers who might have given us something to take on the plane. The huge paranoia machine that is now airport security had yet to gain momentum. I haven’t been on a plane since, for complicated life reasons that have little to do with security (actually, I miss flying).
Lisa M

Cheryl, the memory of 911 will indeed haunt me forever. For the first time in my life I felt vulnerable and that life and loved ones should never be taken for granted. I did go through a period of doubt, until I heard from my aunt a few days later: She told me she had just returned from the funeral of one of the families killed while aboard UA flight 175, the Hanson family (the parents and their little girl Christine were killed when their flight plunged into one of the twin towers). She said her boss–he was the parent of the husband and grandfather to Christine, 2 1/2 years at the time–had such an enormous sense of faith and love that she walked away from the funeral feeling better than she did before. For some reason that comforted me. To know that someone who had lost so much, his son, daughter in law, and granddaughter, was able to tenaciously cling to his faith despite this unfathomable and overwhelming tragedy.

Seven Years Ago – September 11th

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