A lot of us are going to be remembering today the terrible events of 9/11 ten years ago, and what they were doing that day… this is a rambling recollection of my pretty ordinary life on that day.
We were living in Pennsylvania, USA at the time. We had been there for about three months… Craig was doing a teaching exchange at a teaching hospital and our young children were booked into the local school..
To explain, Perth is a great place to live, but nothing ever happens in Perth. This is a very quiet and laid-back little city. A lot of young people from Perth are dying to leave, just because it is so quiet (and nearly always move back home as they get older for the very same reason…) Craig and I were still in the young category who wanted to be somewhere exciting. And we were in America! of all places. Fed on a childhood diet of US sitcoms and TV series and Hollywood movies all our lives, we had been brought up brainwashed into believing America was the place everything happened. It seemed everywhere we turned there was something famous, somewhere where something amazing or fabulous or eventful and interesting had happened. We’d only seen it in the movies but now we were visiting those places, seeing it, experiencing it, living in it! It seemed so awesome and exciting and overwhelming and we were there.
We had met lovely people and made friends. I was homesick but I liked the little town we were living in, and I loved the friendly happy people. They were so welcoming and kindhearted. We even entertained thoughts about a more permanent move… too early to make any decisions but we were talking about it.
So.
The children had just got off to school, Craig was already at work and I was doing a bit of housework before my usual jog/brisk walk. The phone rang as I was about to head out. It was my brother, checking to see we were home and OK. He had seen it on the evening news in Perth… this was about 9.30am Pennsylvania time… I turned on the TV just in time to see footage of the second plane. I didn’t go out for anything at all that day just stayed glued to the TV; my family all rang at some point to check we were OK, they had also heard about a plane missing over Pennsylvania which ?I think? I’m not sure now, was information that was kept from us actually living there…
My children came home from school, and I immediately switched the TV off, thinking naively that they wouldn’t know about it, and I wanted to protect their young sweet minds …. naturally their teachers had had the TV on in the classroom all day also. My eldest son, 11 years old, asked if the people jumping out of windows were going to be OK. I just said, no, darling. I felt a tiny twinge of anger at the complete lack of censorship, but was too confused and blank with the horrors of the day to think about saying anything to their teachers. Anyhow, any small petty feelings I might have had about my children’s innocence seemed completely and utterly trivial by comparison.
The day was surreal… we were in a country in which events such as these were a common silver-screen occurrence. Stuff like this does actually happen in the US, according to the movies. We had seen all this sort of thing in the movies before, we had seen planes crashing in movies before we had seen people running terrified down the streets of New York in the movies before, we had seen horrendous dust clouds in the movies before. It was kind of hard to grasp reality. I vacillated between feeling bizarrely like it was all a movie or something else dreamt up by the land of smoke and mirrors, and then back again to reality. When the reality did set in I just wanted my children to be back in that country where nothing ever happened.
The next few days, or weeks? it is hazy now, but I do remember all planes were grounded. There was an anticipatory fear about what would come next. No one knew. My mother wanted us all to come home immediately. I wondered if this was the start of a war; the president certainly said they were at war, and here we were, there. When the crashed plane was discovered in Pennsylvania, that was a fresh horror. I’ve never been so geographically close to a major plane crash like that in my life. That event was tragic enough on its own but sadly and awfully overshadowed in the media by the massiveness of the other attacks.
(Oh, and we didn’t leave, not until our time was up. I’m really glad we didn’t. Also in case you are wondering, Tim does remember the day well, Cassie only vaguely, and Sam has no memory. Tim remembers a girl crying and being taken out of class because her father worked in one of the Twin Towers. I heard he got out OK.)
Details: (seems hugely silly to mention it now, but for the sake of self-stitched September…)
Top; Butterick 4985 with different sleeves and modified to be a hoodie, white lace, details here
Skirt; skirt “d” from Unique Clothes Any Way You Like by Natsuno Hiraiwa, silver grey crepe, details here, and go here to see this skirt styled in 6 different ways
Sandshoes: Country Road
Wow, what a gorgeous, swampy setting! I love that lace top.
Yes, 9/11 is still all too fresh. My kids were shielded, thank goodness. I kept the tv off at home when they were here and their school had no tv. My kids were 6 and 8 at the time. Of course they learned about it fully much later, but were spared the endless tv footage of the tragedy.
I agree with Shams, that's a beautiful setting for your photo and I 'love' the lace top.
I do remember 9/11 ten years ago. We were celebrating my son-in-laws 21st. Coming home to hear about the tragedy was so surreal. It was hard to grasp the idea that this really had happened. It must have been so terrifying for you and your family.
It was a truly terrible day that did change the world ( in a not positive way ). Lets hope something like this never happens again.
Anyway your outfit looks lovely .
You summed up the day perfectly by saying it was "surreal." Although all of the tragedies hit close to home, the Pentagon crash sent chills through my hometown. I remember the fear and anxiety in trying to call my mom and checking in with friends about their parents who worked there. A week after the fact, I'll never forget driving by the Pentagon and seeing the gaping black hole in it.
Thank you for sharing. On a day when the country mourns and fresh tears are still readily available, it's comforting to read another's story.
I was teaching at that time, and we had an emergency meeting before school began (west coast). It was decided to meet with our homerooms, and discuss. We had counselors standing by and the mental health community in town was mobilized to help anyone. Teachers were told to turn on coverage if they cared to-I did for a short time. At one point I was watching, and apparently crying. A boy came up to me and said, "Mrs. C., are you okay?" "No, I am not, but I will be alright. We all will be alright" is what I answered. He hugged me, and then just hung on to my sleeve for awhile. These were teenagers-they knew what the consequences could be. Some of these kids are in the service now. Some of them are dead. Some of them have gone into professions to counter the hate in our world.
Thank you for your story.
I was going to write something on my blog but couldn't find the right words. I remember the day well, too. I was in college and on my way to my nine o'clock class (late). My roommate had fallen asleep with the tv on mute and as I was leaving I saw some of the footage of the first plane hitting and thought it was a movie. I didn't think it was real, so "surreal" is definitely a good description. It wasn't until I got to class and saw the very solemn expressions on all my classmates faces that I realized it WAS real. I already had plans to study abroad (in Newcastle!) the next school year and thought about canceling my plans, staying home. But I didn't. And I'm glad.
Your photo is awesome. Looks like you're in some sort of magical forest 🙂
I had not realized you lived in the States. You hit the nail on the head with the "bizarre" sense–so much everyday violence in our media that when the real thing hit, Americans did not know how to process it. I know that I was obliged to try to teach that day though no one could focus on anything but the news. I'm sorry your child was not protected from the image of the "falling man". It is one I wished I had never seen.
Thank you for sharing your story. I have been pleased that the 9/11 stories I watched on tv this weekend included the idea that military families are still living the event. It didn't end. My son-in-law is in the firey zones of Afghanistan right now. It's hard to believe that ten years later it still "is". So much has changed, yet not. We're still living it everyday in my house and I am ready for it to be over.
I've blogged about that day before, but I remember one of my geometry students saying that her uncle was supposed to be piloting one of the flights that crashed, but there was some sort of scheduling change.
And I remember the surge of patriotism, flags on everyone's pickup …
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