Remembering September 11, 2001

The Friday before that fateful Tuesday I was admitted to the hospital here in Scottsdale because of internal bleeding.   I spent three days in the ICU and once they got enough blood back in me I was scheduled for an endoscopy at 8 a.m. on the 11th.   I remember the night before Norm and a few of our friends were visiting me in the hospital room while I ate dinner.   I was starting to feel somewhat normal after several days of great discomfort.   My friends prayed with me that all would go well with my test in the morning.   Before I went to sleep that night I spent perhaps an hour or more in prayer.   I’m not known for my long praying sessions, and I really wasn’t all that scared, even though the doctor who was to perform the test had told me they would be looking for signs of cancer in my esophagus.   As I prayed that night there was an urgency in my prayers and a groaning in my spirit that I could not understand.

I woke early the next morning because of noise in the hallway outside my hospital room door.   The nurse came in to check on me and I asked her what everyone was talking about.   She turned on the TV and explained that an airplane had hit a skyscraper in New York City.   I was shocked and I couldn’t believe it.   At first I thought it was enemy airplanes and I couldn’t figure out how they could’ve gotten into our airspace without our military being alerted.   And then I saw the second plane hit the other tower and it did not seem real.   I was shocked and I couldn’t believe I was watching it.

Norm arrived and a hospital orderly took me downstairs to the surgery area where I was to have my procedure performed.   There were TVs on everywhere and Norm and I watched in horror at what was being shown over and over again on the news.   I went in for my test and they gave me something to knock me out for a while.   I don’t remember the procedure — which is good because who wants to remember something being forced down your throat.

I was groggy when they took me back to my room and I remember Norm saying goodbye because he had to deliver a van to the airport.   My friend Sarah came to visit me a short time later.   I was really sleepy and my throat was sore but I was glad for her visit.   Of course we talked about the events of the day.   It dawned on me that her son had only recently enlisted in the Marine Corps.   We talked about that and the certainty that we would probably be at war very soon.   My friend Sarah is a woman of great faith and she showed no signs of fear for her son.   She told me that this was something she knew could happen if he enlisted and that he was in God’s hands no matter what.   I’m happy to say that her son went to Iraq and came home in one piece.

Norm came back to visit me that afternoon and he said things were in chaos at the airport.   When he returned to the hospital he was searched at the entrance.   Things were definitely different now and we knew they would never be the same.   I don’t remember much of the rest of that day, probably because of the drugs.   My test results came back showing definite indication of a bleeding ulcer in my esophagus that was due to acid reflux, but no cancer.   I was prescribed medication and after a few more days I went home.

When I left the hospital Norm drove me home and I remember seeing American flags everywhere at half mast.   The reality of what happened began to sink in.   Even though I was watching the news at the hospital — I was not in the real world until I left the hospital.   The news was on all the time and I cried a lot.   That Sunday I wanted to go to church so bad to be with fellow believers to pray and mourn together for what had happened to our country.   Unfortunately I could not go because I was still very weak from being sick — I also had bronchitis during this bout of the bleeding ulcer.

During the next week or two I remember talking on the phone to my friend Stacy who was pregnant with her first child.   She was two months away from her due date and she was worried about the future.   We were all worried about the future, but I remember telling her that her baby’s upcoming birth was something we should all celebrate in spite of what had happened.   Somehow I knew the world would go on and that God would be with us no matter what.   Here we are five years later — life does go on.

I don’t think I’ll ever forget that day and I hope that our nation never does forget what happened so that we can fight to prevent it from happening again.

1 Comment

  1. Vanda
    Sep 11, 2006

    I’ll never foget how scared I was that day. My daughter was scheduled to be in the WTC on a course and my dil was leaving Newark airport on 9/11. We were in England and I have never ever felt so helpless in my entire life.

    Turnd out my daughter’s class had been put back for 2 weeks and about 8 hours later I found out my DIL’s flight wasn’t until due to take off for an hour after that plane was high jacked out of Newark.

    I was helpless to confort my grandchildren because they didn’t know if their mommy was alive, couldn’t get hold of their uncle to find out what time she was supposed to leave.

    I know how I felt and my heart breaks a little bit every year for the family and friends left behind.

    DIL made it safely home about four days later.