Clementine, How overwhelmingly sorrowful you must feel tonight. I've learned something though from what you have shared. Lives can be forever changed in a moment in time--never to be the same again. Thank you for reminding us all of that.

My heart also aches for the citizens of Iraq. When you wrote the other day about our President and his attitude, I totally agreed with every word. I am afraid for our world. I am afraid for what our children and grandchildren will face in the future.

Thank you for sharing what you have tonight about K's experience and her memory box. When you see her again please tell her that I thank her and honor her greatly for serving our country. May God bless her and all of the countless others who spent time at Ground Zero following that dreadful, dark day in human history. With love,~Moonchime

Clementine, I got teary eyed when I read your post. It is an overwhelming feeling. I also feel like there are people living in that kind fear and sadness we felt on 9-11 for every day of their lives and if I think about it too long I will go bonkers.
I don't want to get too political, but I agree with Moonchime. I watched Bill Clinton on TV last night, and gosh darn it, I like him-he has kindness, empathy and intelligence and wasn't so ready to destroy others' lives without careful thought.

Clementine, That was such a horrible day and time for all of us. I still remember it so well. I was in school and (I was the teachers pet) She needed some things done with the schools computer system and since we only had 4 people in the class she taught and I was the only one to show up that day, she asked me to help and she would teach me osme things. This was at 8:10 am EST. Well we were in this room by ourselves filled with servers and computers and no one else. THen another person came in, and was working with us. I had to go get something form the classroom, while there I heard people talking about the first plane. I came back and told C (my teacher) we did not have a tv or radio, so we started trying to log on to news site. All 3 of us at different computers, but there were too many people trying to get to the sites. Then my pager went off, it was my mom.

I called her and she told me about the first plane and I told her I already new, but whta exactly was going on. She said she did not know, then she said OMG, another plane hit. I remember I just stood there. We got off the phone and I told C that another plane hit, she immediatley looked at me, with a look of horro and said, this is no accident.

It seemed like no time at all I was being paged again. It was my mom, she said a plane had hit the pentagon and one had went down in Penn. I got off the phone C. Well it was time for me to change classes. I got to the other class and they announced that anyone with children or anyone with relatives at Robins Air Force Base was dismissed. (That base is a big air force base, we are like number 3 on the list of targeted bases) so since I had a child, and just about my whole entire family, uncles and my dad and my Dh worked on the base, I was dismissed. I went straight to my moms. I was not ready to be by myself.

I listened to the radio the whole way there and took the road by the base to see what was going on there. That place was terrible. I had not seen any pictures yet and then I got to my mom's and saw the first pics of it and I was devastated. I tried calling my dh and I could not get throuhg (when something like this happend, they lock the base, (nonone can go in or go out and noone can call in or call out) So of course I got worried, but my assured me it was a lock in and everything was fine, we had heard no reports from the base.

Well by this time it was 12 pm and I get a phone call form my son at school. He was 10 at the time. I remember I got so mad. My mom and I had already been talking about how to explain things to him. Well I was hoping he would not know anything until I oculd tlak to him. Well the kids had overheared the teachers talking about it and everything got out of context so the teachers had to tell the kids what happened and so many parents were coming to get the kids. He was crying and scared when he called and beeged me to come and get him. So I did. We went home and waited for my DH to come home. I think I watched the news all night.

Now get this. A few weeks later that had a special on about 2 of the men who were in 1 of the planes. They had talked about how they were living in Flordia nd taking flying lessons and all. I was watching it.

Well my mom phoned and she was in tears. At that time they were showing this hotel on Tv and describing a white van and all and was showing the pictures of the 2 men. Well (I had forgotten all about, til mom called to tell me again) they had went to Florida in July and traveld to the keys and back. They stayed at the very hotel at the same time those guys were there. I remember when they got home, they told me nad my Dh about these 2 guys at this motel. They said there was somethign not right about them. They had been driving a white van and would go to the van several time during the night, pulling paper and all out. MOm and dad had started watching them, they were right across from them. They had their first encounter at the hotels restuaraunt. They were sitting at the table beside them. They were speaking in another language and mom just got this real uneasy feeling about them. Later that night, mom and dad had went out to the patio, those guys were there, with noteboks nad papers, when my parents came out, they said the men got up really quick and dashed to their room. This made my dad think something was not right. So with their rooms being across from each other, dad decided to spy.

HE said that they went to van several times, they did not sleep, there was constant movement in the room, he said things just were not right.

I had told dad when he told me, he should have reported this, but they did not do anything. When mom called me she was tears. She had realized those were the same 2 men that they were probably watching plan the attacks and they did nothing. I tried to console her, but she was dead set, that if they had acted on their feelings then maybe this would not have happened.

I told her that there was no way of knowing about this and that they did what they thought was right and that if they had contaced authorities it might had been wrose on the them. To this day she still regrets not calling. We even have pictures of them and the van. Dad took them.

They brought everything closer to home for us. Someone in my family had actually seen these men. I could not believe it.

I am sorry it seems I have posted my own journal entry in yours. maybe I should copy this in my own journal as well.

Kim

No one will be able to forget that day - I remember going to the vet's and when someone said there had been an explosion at the world trade center (the first, happened on my way there) because a plane had crashed, I remember saying that they would probably have everything back up and running in no time. Then hearing more on the way home and watching the rest unfold on television LIVE when I got there - it was like watching the Challenger explode live only thousands of times worse.

My sweet Inky bunny died that friday, and I just sobbed holding his body and rocking back and forth - for losing him, and for all the sorrow of the past week....

Tell K that she is a special person, and that the world is lucky to have people like her in it. And you are lucky to have her