I was the mom of a four-year-old toddler. I was making the bed, with the morning news show running in the background. I heard them speak of a plane hitting the World Trade Center. I stopped and sat on the end of the bed as live footage ran behind the anchor person. Suddenly another plane came into view, and hit the second tower, I screamed, as my daughter remembers. In the rush of disbelief, and shock, I knew instantly this was no accident.
I shut off the TV, calmed my child, and tried to gather my wits. I took my toddler to preschool, and tried to explain to the Director, what I had just heard. She was confused, as the morning routine of the preschool was lively and chaotic. She looked at me quizzically, as no one else had mentioned anything. In that moment, I must have appeared as a mad woman. I returned to my car and turned on the radio . As I drove home I heard about a third plane hitting the Pentagon. My gut wrenched, and I wailed aloud. My daughter was safe with her dear, sweet preschool teachers. I was a wreck as I tried to make sense of what I was hearing, and seeing. I went to a neighbors home, and we continued to watch the news feed - stunned, and shocked. We saw the towers fall. We screamed, and cried. The enormity of lives lost. We could not fathom what, why, how, this was happening. We sobbed together.
Around noon, we separated to pick up our children at their respective preschools. I brought my daughter home, trying desperately to act as if all was normal, wondering if it ever would be. Of course, I’m certain, our children sensed our distress, but we were doing the best we could. I did not turn on the TV or radio the rest of the day, but remained anxious to what else may have occurred.
As evening came, we all gathered at my neighbors home sending the children off to the bonus room, for pizza and play. We turned on the news, but kept the volume low. It was all impossible to fathom. Another neighbor couple, who worked in downtown Charlotte, spoke of being sent home, to safety, and the evacuation of downtown. I have no idea how late we all stayed together, but we needed each other, and we needed our children to have some normalcy with their friends.
So many powerful reminders of that day.
I was the mom of a four-year-old toddler. I was making the bed, with the morning news show running in the background. I heard them speak of a plane hitting the World Trade Center. I stopped and sat on the end of the bed as live footage ran behind the anchor person. Suddenly another plane came into view, and hit the second tower, I screamed, as my daughter remembers. In the rush of disbelief, and shock, I knew instantly this was no accident.
I shut off the TV, calmed my child, and tried to gather my wits. I took my toddler to preschool, and tried to explain to the Director, what I had just heard. She was confused, as the morning routine of the preschool was lively and chaotic. She looked at me quizzically, as no one else had mentioned anything. In that moment, I must have appeared as a mad woman. I returned to my car and turned on the radio . As I drove home I heard about a third plane hitting the Pentagon. My gut wrenched, and I wailed aloud. My daughter was safe with her dear, sweet preschool teachers. I was a wreck as I tried to make sense of what I was hearing, and seeing. I went to a neighbors home, and we continued to watch the news feed - stunned, and shocked. We saw the towers fall. We screamed, and cried. The enormity of lives lost. We could not fathom what, why, how, this was happening. We sobbed together.
Around noon, we separated to pick up our children at their respective preschools. I brought my daughter home, trying desperately to act as if all was normal, wondering if it ever would be. Of course, I’m certain, our children sensed our distress, but we were doing the best we could. I did not turn on the TV or radio the rest of the day, but remained anxious to what else may have occurred.
As evening came, we all gathered at my neighbors home sending the children off to the bonus room, for pizza and play. We turned on the news, but kept the volume low. It was all impossible to fathom. Another neighbor couple, who worked in downtown Charlotte, spoke of being sent home, to safety, and the evacuation of downtown. I have no idea how late we all stayed together, but we needed each other, and we needed our children to have some normalcy with their friends.