Remembering 9/11 ---- 12 years ago on 9/11 was parent visiting day at school. Our daughter was in the 3rd grade and we had a 9:00 AM appointment at the school. I remember pulling into the parking lot and listening to the radio WMBI 90.1 FM and they said a "small plane" had hit the World Trade Center. Being very familiar with New York, it just did not seem real. In any event, I went into the school where Rita had already arrived and we got an excellent progress report of our little angel. When the parent teacher session was over around 9:30, news was still sketchy, but it was pretty clear that it was not a small plane that had hit the World Trade Center. Everyone was sailing unchartered waters, because NOTHING like this had every happened in the USA before. Never in the history of this country (oh, okay, if you insist on including Pearl Harbor) had we experienced an attack on our soil. The school did not know what to do. They too were sailing unchartered waters! Although everyone had cell phones no one could get a signal because all the cell phone towers were maxed out! It was crazy. Rita is asking the school administrators about a million questions per seconds, none of which could be answered! I remembered vividly, her response to none answers. “Okay so you all don’t really have an emergency plan and we can’t really get in touch with you, I am not about to leave my child here until the school decides.” As we were about to leave with Nneka, she remembered Nneka’s friend Brittany Lo and decided that she was not going to leave without taking Brittany. It was not a problem taking our own child, but now Rita had to convince the school administrators that she had the approval from Doris Lo, Brittany’s mom to also take Brittany. You guessed it, she was convincing. Rita and I had driven separate cars that morning and I was planning on heading to the office and asked Rita what were her plans. She said, this is going to be all over the TV and I don’t want these girls seeing people jumping out of windows, etc., etc., so I am going to take them to the movies. Fast forward a couple of days and the reality of what had happened were still sinking in. Still I was maintaining a strong composure and had fought off the “man tears.” That all changed while I was watching TV and seeing nations from all over the worlds showing solidarity and empathy with the USA for the tragedy. When I saw the Changing the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace at Windsor Castle and they the Star Spangled Banner as part of the musical ceremony, I could no longer hold back the man tears. As life would have it, 12 years later our little 3rd grade angel is a junior at Fordham University in New York City the site of the tragedy in 2001. To bring the circle to a full 180 degrees, she is studying abroad this semester in London. Perhaps, with the grace of God, next month Rita and I can celebrate our 28th wedding anniversary in London. Life is good, God is better and I LOVE the USA!
Posted on: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 03:27:29 +0000
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