Where were you?
9/11....
I always remember 9/11 with sadness, and I'm still in shock that this happened to our country. For me, it's a bit surreal because I wasn't actually IN the U.S. when it happened. I was in London on a study abroad semester in my junior year of college. I still remember like it was yesterday.
I had just left the Museum of London after a really nice morning just walking around and learning about the the fascinating new city I was now living in. I remember sitting quietly in the courtyard of the museum just enjoying my surroundings and not having a care in the world. I was alone, and I wasn't afraid at all.
I left the museum after picking up a few presents for people back home and started walking toward the tube. Looking back, it seems like people were in a little more of a tizzy than normal for the streets of London, but I didn't seem to notice at the time. I got on the tube (or subway if you will) and began my short ride back to our flat. I remember looking across the seat from myself at a man reading the paper, and I remember seeing the twin towers on the front page. It looked like they were on fire, but I dismissed it as one of those Enquirer "end of the world" scenarios that trashy magazines use to scare people.
As I exited the stairs leading out of the tube I was stopped by an older woman in casual business clothes. She asked, "Are you American?". I was taught to answer this question hesitantly because people in foreign countries (even England) don't always take kindly to Americans. She looked fairly harmless, so I said, "Yes, I am." She quickly asked me if I knew about what had happened in the States and I said that I didn't. I quickly found the nearest newspaper stand (which is never far away on London streets) and read it for myself...two hijacked planes had flown into the World Trade Centers.
I learned later that there were two other planes, one that crashed into the Pentagon and one that crashed into a field because the passengers fought back.
There is no place like home when tragedy strikes, but I was so thankful to be in the UK if I could not be in the U.S. when 9/11 happened. It felt, and still feels like a piece of home to me.
I always remember 9/11 with sadness, and I'm still in shock that this happened to our country. For me, it's a bit surreal because I wasn't actually IN the U.S. when it happened. I was in London on a study abroad semester in my junior year of college. I still remember like it was yesterday.
I had just left the Museum of London after a really nice morning just walking around and learning about the the fascinating new city I was now living in. I remember sitting quietly in the courtyard of the museum just enjoying my surroundings and not having a care in the world. I was alone, and I wasn't afraid at all.
I left the museum after picking up a few presents for people back home and started walking toward the tube. Looking back, it seems like people were in a little more of a tizzy than normal for the streets of London, but I didn't seem to notice at the time. I got on the tube (or subway if you will) and began my short ride back to our flat. I remember looking across the seat from myself at a man reading the paper, and I remember seeing the twin towers on the front page. It looked like they were on fire, but I dismissed it as one of those Enquirer "end of the world" scenarios that trashy magazines use to scare people.
As I exited the stairs leading out of the tube I was stopped by an older woman in casual business clothes. She asked, "Are you American?". I was taught to answer this question hesitantly because people in foreign countries (even England) don't always take kindly to Americans. She looked fairly harmless, so I said, "Yes, I am." She quickly asked me if I knew about what had happened in the States and I said that I didn't. I quickly found the nearest newspaper stand (which is never far away on London streets) and read it for myself...two hijacked planes had flown into the World Trade Centers.
I learned later that there were two other planes, one that crashed into the Pentagon and one that crashed into a field because the passengers fought back.
There is no place like home when tragedy strikes, but I was so thankful to be in the UK if I could not be in the U.S. when 9/11 happened. It felt, and still feels like a piece of home to me.
Great post! I was eating breakfast with my kids when it happened. My oldest two remember, but youngest doesn't. It was a sad, sad day.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. It's been great today to read different experiences that blogging friends had on that day. It helps me to remember that day even better! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this. It's hard to think that was 8 years ago. Has that much time really passed? Wow. I can't imagine how different that would have been to be in another country when it happened. I might have been looking around wondering if anyone else was feeling the pain/fear that I was. Wondering if my friends were at the WTC that day; calling their cell phones a million time to no avail. That would have been weird; but you're right, I would have chosen the UK as well.
ReplyDeleteBeth: I'm glad you were gone from home on that day, too. It was horrible. I still grieve over the loss, and the too-soon-forgetting why we are fighting a war to set people free from this kind of satanic oppression.
ReplyDeleteWonderful post, Beth. I've enjoyed reading everyone's memories of that day. It's a day we should remember year after year.
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