Remembering 9/11: Eight years later

It didn’t occur to me that today marked the eighth anniversary of 9/11 until I logged onto Twitter and Facebook this morning, both of which were active with friends and followers remembering the day. MSNBC was running live footage, and for the first time, I watched the twin towers fall.

Our family has changed a lot since that day. Scott and I have lived in two more cities since then, Washington, DC and Wichita. We freed ourselves from two crazy cats but added two crazy boys to our family. I left the full time working world to stay home for four years, then went back to work part time for three years, and am now back to stay at home mom, looking for part time work again. Scott separated from the Air Force, worked at the Department of Justice in DC, and now works for the Department of Defense. A silver minivan has replaced our sporty red convertible Miata. A few things haven't changed: Scott still grills the best steaks ever, and I still hate to clean.

But the memories of that day still remain. Some are fading but some are still vivid. I was working as Communications Director for the Dayton Art Institute in Dayton OH, home to one of the largest Air Force bases in the US. We all gathered around the television in the head of security’s office. We also decided to keep the museum open, despite a lot of organizations and businesses in Dayton closing their doors.

I can hear the phone recording “all circuits are busy…” when I tried to get a hold of Scott at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. No one could call out or in to the base. Cell phone lines were jammed as well, with everyone in America trying to get a hold of loved ones and figure out what was going on. We finally connected hours later, and he was put on 48 hours notice for deployment. I think I left work a little early that day, and Scott was already at home.

Later that afternoon, there was a loud boom in the area. We didn’t know what was happening. Someone reported the Veteran’s Hospital in Dayton had exploded. Everyone in our neighborhood went outside, and we saw smoke in the distance. A few minutes later, Dad called me from Wichita, saying they were getting reports at the station that something had happened in Dayton. He had on his “news” voice, and was asking me questions in such a way that I thought I was live on the air (I wasn’t). It turned out that a fighter jet headed to protect Air Force One was flying over Dayton, and broke the sound barrier. What we heard was a sonic boom. And the smoke? Just a coincidence.

I think Scott stayed home for a couple of days after (Wright Patterson was “essential personnel only”), but soon they had to man their office 24/7 He also updated his will, and went over all the financials and important stuff I needed to know in case he got deployed and something happened to him. Morbid, yes, but it needed to be done.

September 11 is a day that has forever changed our world. It is now included in history books along with such important events as WWI, WWII, John F. Kennedy's assassination and Pearl Harbor. The difference is, I can remember it.