Yes, it’s been ten years since that heinous act was set upon America. 10 years. A tenth year anniversary is supposed to be a milestone and I guess it is, because in 10 years a lot has changed. The world has changed; people have changed, some for good, some for bad. I looked up what the traditional gift or representation of a tenth anniversary is, and it’s tin or aluminum. Usually for this day I’ve already got an idea of what I wanted to write for my own personal memory, and this year it’s been really hard. Maybe it’s because of it being ten years, or maybe it’s because of a new threat that could befall our country. We’ve been so focused this week on watching shows and new video, new stories, new heroes that we didn’t know about. Even with Little Man he’s been a lot more conscious of the events going on, even if it’s just seeing mommy crying. He’ll come over to me and hand me a Kleenex and tells me that it’ll be okay mommy. Then I cry even more. He knows that something bad happened and that a lot of people lost their lives, he’s young and still doesn’t know quite why it happened, and we tell him the events that led up to it and he’ll look at us and say, “well, that won’t happen again, right”? We just look at him and say hope it doesn’t.
One of the shows we watched this week was about how has your life changed in ten years. I was 35 when the towers came down, the Pentagon was attacked and Flight 93 became the most heroic mass of people ever. I was working in the Federal Center, talking on the phone to my mother, at 6:45AM when my sister had come into my mother’s room and said that a plane ran into the World Trade Center building. My first response like a lot of people was “what the hell, they didn’t see the building, how stupid”. At the same time I was on my computer at work and brought up CNN, saw the smoke and saw what a beautiful day it was, so clear, not one cloud, just a perfect day. Not much work was going on at the Fed Center’s Water Lab that day, so I got off the phone with my mom, and told a co-worker and we went into one of the conference rooms and found a TV and turned it on. We watched and watched, not thinking much of it. More people had come by and had asked what was going on, and we said, some idiot apparently didn’t see the building and ran into it. More moments had passed and we were thinking of turning the TV off and going back to our offices, thinking no more than this was just a tragic accident and they will get control of the situation and that would be it. But being a disaster junkie that I am, I couldn’t make myself turn the TV off just yet. By that time, it was 7:03AM Denver time. We watched in horror and disbelief, the second plane plow right into the south tower. By this time several other workers in the lab were there, and the collective gasp is a noise that came out, much like the roar of the plane will be a noise I NEVER will forget. Seeing that image on CNN I will NEVER forget. I remember feeling really dizzy and nauseas. What the hell had just happened? That was a recording right? That was the replay of the first plane, wasn’t it? No it wasn’t. I remember that I still had CNN on my computer back at my desk and my boss had come in wanting to know why one, there were so many of us watching TV and two why wasn’t I at my desk and why I had the internet up at the time. Then he saw what was going on. We all couldn’t move. Just transfixed on that image, the plane going into the building, the smoke, the fire, the debris raining down, and the smoke from the first tower. This had to be some bad movie, right? No it wasn’t. By now several peoples cell phones had been ringing off in the conference room and that sort of brought us back to reality. I didn’t’ have my cell phone on me at the time. At the time I never had it on me, just sat at my desk, several times I left it at work, it wasn’t an important part of my overall being at the time.
That is something that has changed in my life in a huge way. In those first few days, there were stories that came out that some people had been found because of the cell phones they had on them, and there were still able to call out and let people know sort of where they were at. There were also stories of phone calls being called to loved ones on the ground of the victims on the planes. I thought about that after we had gone back to work, that I would never ever leave my cell phone on my desk, or turned off, or never with me. Working at the Federal Center had its advantages, of being a government employee, and great hours, great benefits, and a sense that you were doing a job for the great good. It also had its disadvantages. Outside of Washington D.C. the Federal Center in Colorado has the second highest amount of government workers, and a potential target for terrorists. So whenever we would have to leave our desk and deliver work, or even go to the restroom, we all just remember, take your phone, you never know. Now ten years later, I won’t even go to our own basement without my cell phone. It’s is with me at all times, inside the house, outside the house, in the closet, in the bathroom, in the kids room. Cell phones also became a huge part in many other recent disasters, Katrina, The Tsunami, the Haiti Earthquake, and the Japan Earthquake. So that has been a huge change in my life. I always make sure one the bill is paid, two unlimited amounts of text, calls, long distance, and internet usage. It’s always charged, and will forever be a part of my being. Our family will always have the latest and most up to date phones available also. It’s a necessity that I feel safer with and if the need is there, that it can be used to either be able to save myself or my family. I even downloaded a new app over the weekend that would help with, god forbid the kids go missing, it’s there for immediate response and help.
I was always a very aware type of person of my surroundings and other people around me, and just everything in general. Since 9/11 I’m even more hyper aware I guess you can call it. I was always a usual suspicious person of others and now it’s even more and that has actually been a good thing, with several attempted assaults and robberies of either me or family. And I’m fine with that. I would rather be cautious of people than naive and get targeted for now reason. I was brought up in a world and a town where you didn’t’ have to lock your doors, or if you forgot, no big deal, but since I had left home and was on my own, I became aware and now, putting the house alarm on is second nature, like breathing, making sure the doors in my car are locked, second nature, having either firearms or swords in the house at easy reach, second nature. We live in Colorado so the “make my day law” is second nature.
How we travel is different now also. But that is because of the terrorist, not so much anything with us, but I am more aware of people around me on planes. I don’t mind the security checks, and wish actually that they still had armed guards at all of the airports. I’d rather pay more money for a ticked on a plane, and knowing that the guards are there and the correct security are in place. We know now that when we travel, take EVERYTHING out of your pockets, put the correct amount of what you need in clear bags and clear bottles. Our biggest hassle to this is Little Man. When he travels with us, he also has his own backpack and his little stuffies that he carries with him. It’s gotten better lately, but those first few plane trips with him, he didn’t want to take his shoes off, and he didn’t want to give up his friends and put them in the cold gray crates to be scanned. I think that has been my biggest heartbreak, is being on the other side of the scanners, and waiting for him, him crying and sobbing going through the scanners without his stuffed animals and not knowing why he had to do it. He’s gotten better, not only because he’s gotten older but because we go on trips that require flights. I hate hearing people bitching and complaining about the long lines in the airports. Is it that hard to get there early so you don’t’ have to be rushed? No it’s not, plan and organize accordingly.
Another thing that changed in my life was the internet and websites. Wow, even writing the word, websites, is odd, because nobody really has a website, they have a Blog, or Vlog, or Twitter. I started writing about 9/11 the following year, the first year and it included a lot of poetry and pictures that I had acquired, then throughout the years the posts got more personal. I think this one is the most personal and writing down where exactly I was and what I was doing when this all unfolded in front of me and those around me. Social Media has come a long way, and just even in this year with everything that has happened in the Middle East and for those that want freedom. All of the young people who were not either born when 9/11 happened or who were just 9, 10, 11 years old. They don’t want to see this again, and they want to be able to communicate with the rest of the world, and they should have that freedom to be able to do so. Even with the death of Bin Laden, the amount of posts and tweets that went up were amazing. Everyone being able to communicate, near and far was great and will always be a part of us now also.
So there are many changes that have accrued in 10 years, some good, and some bad. But all are a part of our everyday lives. I talked to a friend over the past several days that her youngest son wanted to make some sort of dish to honor those victims of 9/11 and I thought that was the best thing ever. She was trying to come up with “American” type of foods, and they decided on American flag sugar cookies, then I had mentioned to her about Apple Pie. You can’t get much more American than that, and so for today, we are going to make min apple pies. I like the idea of honoring those thousands of souls that we lost by either making a dish or going out and doing something in their names. There are several organizations that you can be a part of where you can help out for the day, in their names. But don’t EVER forget. Don’t let our children EVER forget. Most of us weren’t around when Pearl Harbor was attracted and that was on an actual armored service base. The senseless act of killing innocent civilians while they were at work should NEVER EVER be forgotten.
So as this 10th anniversary comes up today, think about what you can do, no matter how big or how small, but included your family, because you have them with you, they aren’t gone, they didn’t die in a horrible act of hate. They are right next to you, or in the next town. Love them, help them, honor them and those that were lost.
