Important Things: September 11, 2001
A Guideposts editor recalls the lessons she learned on that tragic morning more than a decade ago.
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It was a September morning like any other. The air was still summer warm. The sky was a brilliant robin’s egg blue. I stepped onto the 8:25 a.m. Metro North commuter train, headed toward my office at Guideposts magazine on 34th Street in New York City.
“Excuse me.” I squeezed between a young woman wearing earphones who was thumbing through the color photo-filled pages of Star Magazine, and a middle-aged gray-bearded man reading The New York Times.
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Drat. The dreaded middle seat. Oh, well, at least I don’t have to stand.
I put on my sunglasses and folded my arms tightly across my chest, as though doing so might somehow make me not only smaller, but invisible. Before closing my eyes I sneaked glances at the headlines in my seatmates’ reading material—a microcosm of everyday life in twenty-first century America.
On my left, in Star, there was the insatiable culture of celebrity (“Look Who’s Got Cellulite!”). On my right, in the New York Times, bitter partisan politics (“Campaigning for Mayor: City Voters Have Heard It All”).
Oozing from the pages of both—as well as from the jokes told the night before on the late night TV talk shows—was the prevailing tone of world-weary, been there-done that, above-it-all irony.
I’d just dozed off, when someone’s cell phone chirped. Followed by another, and then another. Passengers began speaking in hushed, urgent tones, something about one of the World Trade Center’s twin towers being hit by a plane. Not a small private plane. A big commercial airliner.
How awful, I thought. What a terrible accident.
Several minutes passed, and a second shrill chorus of cell phones announced a second strike.
This was no accident. We were being attacked.
The bearded man next to me became agitated as he punched the buttons on his cell phone to no avail. “My staff is on the 86th floor of Tower One,” he said. “My God, I hope they’re all right.”
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As the train rounded the bend north of 125th Street, passengers across the aisle left their seats to peer out the train’s west windows at the terrifying spectacle of the towers burning.
At Grand Central Station, I wedged myself into the crowd at the Hudson News kiosk, transfixed by the horrifying images on the elevated Fox News TV monitors. Fiery orange explosions. People jumping from the towers. Skirts billowing. A man and woman holding hands as they plummeted.
This can’t be happening.
Walking south on Fifth avenue, I watched aghast as the blue sky filled with black smoke hemorrhaging from ugly gashes in both towers. At street level there was the surreal sensation of being in a 1950s Japanese horror movie. People with radios and cell phones pressed to their ears shouted breaking news.
“They’ve hit the Pentagon!”
“There’s a plane headed for the White House!”
At the office, I frantically tried to phone my husband Tom, who had driven into Manhattan earlier in the morning for a breakfast meeting with a client somewhere in the city... But where exactly? Downtown? Uptown? If only I had asked!
I tried to call our daughter Katy at her New York University dorm downtown, on Greenwich Street. I tried to call my sister in her classroom at Middle School 131 in downtown Chinatown, where she taught sixth grade science. But none of their cell phones were working.
“Did you hear?” A young ashen-faced staffer cried out from her office across the hall. “The south tower has fallen!”
Kathryn “Kitty” Slattery is a long-time Roving Editor for Guideposts magazine and the author of several books for children and adults, including Lost & Found: One Daughter’s Story of Amazing Grace (Guideposts Books) and If I Could Ask God Anything: Awesome Bible Answers for Curious Kids. Visit Kitty at her website and on Facebook.
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Your Comments (23)
This was a wonderful story as it brings back memories from eleven years ago. Most of us remember where we were and what we were doing when the news of this awful attack was received. Like many others, I hung my American flag proudly and attended church. It seemed that for a while, America was in this together - not separated as we are now. Flags are not being flown as they were for a while after 9/11, churches are not quite as full as then either. I hope it doesn't take another "wake up call" to bring us, as a nation, together again.
On 9/11/01 I was working at an elementary school in Arlington, VA, just a few miles from the Pentagon. As we watched the terrible news on TV & the day went on, more & more parents arrived to get their children & take them home. Everyone wanted to be with their loved ones. I later heard that the school where I had previously worked (it being just a few blocks from the Pentagon) was on the flight path of Flight 77. A class of Kindergarteners was outside for PE & the plane went right over their heads, terrifying them. The plane crashed into the side of the Pentagon, shaking the school building & rattling the windows. The Principal immediately got the hundreds of young students & staff down to the basement for safety. She waited all day to hear from her husband who worked at the Pentagon but, sadly, he was one of the 184 innocent people killed that day. My best friend was at the time also a teacher at a local school. One of her 4th graders also lost his father at the Pentagon. When my friend & I visited the Pentagon Memorial, we found the memorial benches with their names engraved. We placed flowers there & prayed for them & their families. God bless all the 9/11 victims & their loved ones.
Beautiful...yes, this is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and say I love you, I'm sorry, I forgive you.
Like most Americans, I remember where I was when I heard: at home, with my husband. We were getting ready for work, when our son called and told us to turn on the TV. I went on to my job, teaching, and spent the day trying to calm children and teach.
But an equally big memory: The school I was at was near a hospital with a helicopter landing pad. The day that flight was allowed again, a helicopter came in for a landing. We had not been told that flight was allowed again that day, and my students were terrified, and hid under the desks. It breaks my heart to remember how frightened my students were.
Should we love our Muslim neighbors as ourselves. First, we need to love ourselves. We can know that it is O.K.to love ourselves because God first loved us. He sent Jesus to pay for our sins. It was promised in the Old Testament.
We can love our Muslim neighbors and pray for them. Jesus loves them, too.Love can do wonderful things.
Remember Joseph forgave his family and loved them.
We all need to repent of our sins and forgive others as we ask God to forgive ourselves.
Dear Friends,
Heartfelt thanks for taking the time to share your beautiful and inspiring comments... There is such hope and healing power in all our stories. Again, thank you for sharing!
Love & Blessings,
Kitty Slattery
E-mail: Kathryn@KathrynSlattery.com
Facebook Author Page: Kathryn "Kitty" Slattery
Kitty, thank you much for sharing this story. Please read
my reply to D Spears..it is for you, too. Kitty, this evil
deed had the exact opposite effect on all of us, than was
intended. We love each other more deeply, we "...make
the most of every opportunity," we pray so much more -
especially for others,we suffer with them - and we pray
more for America. We are more vigilant. And, Kitty, did
you or do you remember what happened on Wednesday, the
next day? Rain in New York City...Our God cried.
I still remember exactly what I was doing on the morning as the news broke on the television. My husband and I were getting ready to leave for work and the sights on tv were spell binding, horrifying and surreal all at the same time. We both said that this could not be happening here in our country -- things like this happen elsewhere in the world, but not in America!
When I got to work, our office was in turmoil and disbelief at what was happening. The majority of our staff from president of the company, to division and sales managers and numerous support staff were attending a hugh convention in Las Vegas. Since we were an international company, we had visitors from our parent company and many vendors from around the world also attending. Our office was getting flooded with calls from overseas with questions of what was happening and were their people okay. Everyone wanted to leave Las Vegas and return to their country because they were so frightened. Of course this became an impossibility when all air traffic across the United States was stopped. I remember that was another stark reminder of what was happening when you looked toward the sky and there were no airplanes to be seen anywhere.
One of our managers who was in Las Vegas was searching desperately for his wife. She was on a business trip and he thought she was scheduled on the plane that hit the Pentagon. As our staff was trying to help him locate his wife (cell phones were useless due to the overloaded circuits), we all decided to gather and say a prayer for her safety and for all of the folks caught in this horrible tragedy. That quiet moment seemed to bring a calm through our office as we watched throughout the day all of the events on television and tried to make arrangements for all of our staff scattered across the country. Our manager finally heard from his wife -- and yes, she was suppose to have been on that airplane that morning but an early meeting held her up and she had to take a later flight. That later flight was diverted as they were trying to ground all air traffic and she and her co-worker wound up in another state but they were safe!
9/11 was a horrible and tragic day in our history for all of us, but especially for those who lost loved ones. I pray for all that were touched by that terrible day and pray that America will never have to experience such an event ever again. We all need to remember the patriotism and the notion that we need to hold each other a little closer each day that seemed to be ignited from the tragedies of 9/11 and keep those feelings with us each and every day.
Good artical, Mrs Spears, very good. Especially the last
paragraph. Thank you for sharing. I was involved in getting
my son's dog, a Greenland hound, to the Vet for neutering,
when that terrible, awful, horrible, senseless act erupted.
I was returning home, after leaving "Miles" and my son's
mother (divorce) called me and asked about the Vet errand,
then told me about the plane that hit the 1st Tower. I
rushed back home to pick up my wife Elizabeth, and as soon as I walked in, she told me the horrible news that she..
"..just saw a second plane run into the other Tower!!"
We left shortly after and went to our Dr's appointments.
"D," this kind of unnecessary evil is un-measureable.
You, ur husband, I, Liz, all of America's humanity did the
best thing that day - we held on to each other, we wept,
and we all prayed. We prayed for America, for the dear,
precious lives who were terribly & senslessly silenced by this evil deed,for their family members, for the Respon-
ders, for our President & family, for his Staff, our Defense staff, the families of all who died, for each other.... My son(above)? -- he was in Switzerland @ the
time, getting experience as a Chef..(of all places!! - a
neutral country), and he got NO news at all except that
the planes had crashed. No help, no sympathy, no sorrow
no information. He was terrified!! It took conversation
with me, his Mother, his sister, & others to calm his
terror. It was AWFUL! As good as he is, my son stayed to fulfill his obligation before he came home.
God Bless America. In God We Trust.
I will never forget 9-11-01. I was at work in Greensboro, NC at the Infiniti dealership, when the guys from back in the Parts department came out and were yelling "You got to come see this!" So I went back to their dept and I thought that they had some video game on the tv. I told them to turn that off or they would get in trouble with the boss. They both said "No....This is for real!! This is happening in New York City!!". Then, we saw the second plane hit the second tower. We were all just watching in total horror at the destruction and your mind refused to acknowledge that there were people who were jumping out of the towers to their deaths. I remember having tears running down my face at the thought of so many innocent people dying and being angry at whom was behind this attack of America!
The eeriest thing though was that all major airports were immediately shut down including Greensboro's. We were several miles from the gas tank farm right on 1-40. There were people saying that we might get bombed as well due to the tank farm and if we did get bombed it would blow out the windows as far away as the dealership. I know I said a lot of prayers for those people who lost their lives and their families left behind to grieve them.
America came back to life that day and a lot of people regained their patriotism. I have friends who have come back from the wars since then and thank God for them, that they are safe and back home though not whole maybe in limb or spirit. I thank God for our military men and women who defend our country. America needs to take back our country and not let some terrorists overrun us and take away what our Great Country was founded on "In God we Trust!" Amen!
I cannot understand how any one can be so evil
I remember that day if were yesterday.
That was another "Day that will live in infamy". Unfortunately, I fear, that the national rush to the church and/or Jesus Christ faded all too quickly in the press of everyday cares and pressures. Sure we all probably remember that "day" but what about a lasting faith and patriotism. One has to look hard to find it nowadays.
On the morning of 9-11-00 I was showering when I heard on the radio
that a plane had hit one of the Twin Towers. I thought to myself that
possibly an inexperienced pilot in a small plane miscalculated...
As I was finishing my packing for my trip to New York City I hear again
on the radio of another plane careening into the other Twin Tower... I
quickly surmised this was NOTpilot error and possibly deliberate.
I called my son-in-law who was taking me to the San Jose, CA
airport and asked if he had heard the news. He had not. I suggested he not come to pick me up as by then it seemed certain we were under attack!
I turned the TV on and could not believe what I was seeing! The
enormity of the EVIL being perpetrated on us in America was hard to
comprehend! I could barely watch the screen to witness such massive
destruction and such sad loss of life... I prayed for those who lost their
lives, those who were rescuing people and for all of us who were
watching and for the as yet unknown fall-out of this horrendous act
of violence.
My week's vacation was spent at my own house watching TV
endlessly. Trying to grasp what was happening and why it had taken
place. I thought of the words of Henri Nouwen, a deceased Jesuit priest,
"We are not alone on our journey. The God of love who gave us life sent us His only Son to be with us at all tines and in all places, so that we never have to feel lost in our struggles but ALWAYS CAN TRUST THAT GOD WALKS
WITH US.
I prayed that all of us could feel God's love despite the horror of 9-11.
And I do think that the gift of this wretched event was how we pulled
together. If we love God, evil cannot conquer us!
Mari Musante
There are lots of things I do not remember, but I remember this day clearly. I had just woke up and started watching the news. The first plane had already hit. and the reporter was speaking about what a terrible accident it was for the plane to hit the tower. All of a sudden, we saw the second plane and at that point, it was clear that this was not an accident. I was supposed to be getting ready for work, but I could not stop watching the tv. I am in the central time zone, so in my mind I was thinking how blessed everyone was because they were not at work yet. I realized that this was the eastern time zone and some were already at work. I saw people jumping from the buildings, saw people running when the first tower fell, and all I could do was pray for everyone. I still think about that say with great sadness. To think someone could be so evil to do something like this is beyond my imagination.
Reading this today, the day before the anniv. of 911, gave me chills all over again remembering how I felt that day when I watched it all unfold on TV. It did seem surreal...like watching some bad movie; yet, the terror of people falling to their deaths hit home. I still can weep, even now, for those who suffered that terrible time.
I do recall having a dream that morning, before I got up, of being in a tall glass building with no floors, and watching as balloons seemed to be released upward into the air, much as one sees sometimes at a funeral or memorial service for someone who has died, as a symbol of setting their spirit free. It seemed an odd dream and it was like I had been photographing the moment. You can imagine my reaction when I came downstairs and my daughter called and said, "mom, turn on the t.v...something horrible has happened in NYC." It was as though I already knew the spirits of many people had risen upward to meet their Creator and were free. The comfort of knowing they'd been received somehow gave me peace...but it was still beyond words to see and believe.
Later, as I felt the impact of such grief, and felt fear for what else might happen in this country, and prayed about it, these words of scripture from Isaiah 41:10 that were given to my mind helped me to be released from the fear of "what next?" I heard: "Fear not, I am with you! I am your GOD...let nothing terrify you! I will strengthen you and help you; I will protect you and save you." - GOOD NEWS VERSION of the Bible. Verse 11 of Isaiah 41 goes on to say, "Those who are angry with you will know the shame of defeat. Those who fight against you will die and will disappear from the earth. I am the LORD your GOD; I strengthen you and tell you, 'Do not be afraid; I will help you.'"
I was cleaning the house==when my husband called. We were under attack and it was bad in New York. I said a pray and turned on the T.V. I couldn't believe it. How could this happen to our country? We were brough to gather and united as a nation due to this diaster. Something good did come out of it.
That day will always be memorable to me A friend who would have been on the 102 floor of the tower missed his bus and therefore was safe My daughter is a pilot and at first I was told it was a small plane, then a commercial plane of which she could have been in either of them and I had no idea where she was at the time of the incident I prayed for her safety and all those who were there. I later received a phone call in R/T both and thanked God for his mercy.
I believe that day changed all of our lives forever. I did not know anyone that lost their lives that day or their families, I did pray for them, and prayed that God would keep our county strong and united. I know I held my family close that day and was so thankful for each and every one of them. The personal lesson I learned that time is to try to live each day as it may be your last, enjoy all the simple things in life that we normally take for granted, don't let a day go by without telling the ones you love how much you love them and how much them mean to you.
I pray God will contiue to bless this great country and we will forever remain "One Nation Under God."
The memory that stuck the most vividly in my mind from that morning is of a woman who came into the studio of the "Today" show. She was asking for any information on her husband. She had a three-year-old at home, and was pregnant with twins. Her husband worked for Cantor Fitzgerald. To this day I still think of her, and wonder how she and her children are doing...
Everyone was in total shock of what happened that day. It is just so hard to imagine that there are people in this world who have so little regard for human life that they would kill so many innocent people and think that what they were doing was for a worthy cause !!
I did not know anyone personally who worked in the towers, but I prayed for each of them and their families !! The devastation they experienced that day was beyond words and it left a lot of us speechless for a long time !!
This country has not experienced a war here on U.S. soil since the Civil War, but it was affected by World War I & II, the Korean War, Vietnam War, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Afghanistan and any place our service men have been sent to protect us here at home and keeping the wars from reaching out shores. There have been many losses in those serving in the armed services and many families who have lost loved ones. A lot of people don't understand why our men and women are being sent to these foreign lands, but it has to be done if we are to protect our own country from being attacked again. We had been at peace here for so many years, that I think we became complacement in our thinking that it couldn't possible happened again on U.S. soil !! An act of terrorism, is a an of war and could not go unnoticed !! It has resulted in placing our service men in the Middle East to quail the onslaught of terrorism in hopes that something like this will never happen again !!
We cannot be complacement in thinking that it will not, because their are still people out there who despise America and what she stands for !! We can only ask for God to protect us and this great country !!
There was great suffering that fateful day, but with time, family, friends & God, we can all heal to some degree, but we will never ever forget !!!
Beautiful story. I recently visited New York and saw were the towers stood. Thank you for sharing.
GoodMorning.
"I do believe it is possible to create,
even without ever writing a word or painting a picture,
by simply molding one's inner life.
And that too is a deed."
– Etty Hillesum