Remembering 9.11.01

    

     

#112

09.11.10

     

Intro - the XX

     

I was a third-year resident seeing outpatients at the Ankle and Foot Medical Center of the Delaware Valley in Philadelphia, PA.  In between patients I heard someone in the waiting room talking about a plane that crashed in to one of the World Trade Center buildings in New York City.  A few of us pulled up the story on CNN.com while one of the staff got coverage on a radio station.  I remember feeling so sad.

     

Then we saw and heard that a second plane had deliberately crashed in to the other tower, and sadness was replaced with confusion and fear.  Other planes were not responding to air traffic control, and thought to be targeting additional sites, including Washington, D.C.  I quickly telephoned my mother in Utah to make sure none of my brothers or sister were traveling.  I didn't inquire about my father because I usually know when and where he is traveling.  What a wave of relief I felt when she said my siblings were all at their homes, but then mentioned "But dad is in Washington D.C.  Why?"  

     

Fear, confusion, and panic.  

     

He was staying at the Marriott next to the White House, which was a suspected target.

   

By then the Pentagon had been hit, and I felt such fear that I simply couldn't think straight.  I left the clinic and got in to my car; I was going to drive in to D.C. and personally get him out.  I stopped off to pick up T from her work and take her home - she was on the 13th floor of a large building off Rittenhouse Square in downtown Philadelphia, and prepared to leave for D.C.  All the roads leading in to D.C. were blocked, and I felt visceral helplessness.  Then my mother phoned and had received word from my father.  He had literally walked out of the city for several hours until he found a car rental agency, rented their last car, and began the slow drive West, to the safety of Home.

    

I am very mindful today of those who didn't make it home safely that day, and I grieve for their families.

    

  

This series of photos was taken on July 4, 2010 in South Jordan, Utah at my father-in-law's home.  He's the taller man in this photo, the other man is one of his neighbors, and that's my Q with them.  The flag was lowered to half staff in honor of my mother-in-law who had passed away just one week prior.  The lowered flag also feels appropriate on this occasion while remembering the events of 09.11.01.  

   

CCE