So, on this day 7 years ago, Bridget and I watched the first tower fall from the TV in our colleague Patrick's office at United Way. We both proceeded to go into denial via Starbucks. Headed out into that gorgeous Fall day and got our chai tea and a scone ("comfort" scones, as Bridg calls them). From within the Starbucks (just outside DC in Alexandria) we heard a very large boom and walked outside to see smoke coming from the direction of the Pentagon. Decided it was probably a good idea to get the hell back to the office.
The rest of the day was spent in my office watching the news on my TV (yeah, I was a star back then. my own tv and shit) and fielding calls from Bridget's family worried about her welfare. We couldn't reach Patrick, who'd been on the Hill for meetings, for the longest time. When we finally did he said it had been absolute chaos there as they evacuated. He asked a police officer where to go and the guy said, I have no idea, just far from here. Patrick watched as the plane (which would eventually attack the Pentagon), flew towards the Capitol building then turned around.
I remember my office completely filled up with people, in utter shock over what just happened (what did just happen?). Our building was on lock down until the end of the day. I waited to head home until the bridge opened back up but everyone thought I was crazy to go back to Capitol Hill. But I really wanted to be home. As I was driving over the bridge (past the burning Pentagon), I was the only car on a road that is usually bumper to bumper during rush hour. My neighborhood, a few blocks from the Capitol, was deserted. Everyone who lived around me was either a member of Congress, a doctor, a lawyer, or James Carville. As I lay in bed that night I heard helicopters and fighter jets flying over head.
What the hell just happened?
5 comments:
I'm glad that you wrote that, Ilsa. Like all of us, I've got the events of that day burned in my memory. Here are my most vivid.
--Frantically trying to get ahold of loved ones. I was able to reach Bridget pretty early, but didn't hear from my brother in Manhattan, by way of his friend, until late afternoon. He still hadn't heard from our father, who sometimes had work on the side of the Pentagon that got hit, but luckily hadn't that day.
--Freaking out as wild rumors of fires and explosions around DC rolled across the CNN ticker.
--An eerily calm pandemonium on the streets as people just helplessly sat in their cars trying to get the hell away from Capitol Hill. I remember thinking, "This must be what it's like to live in Israel." I walked right past a minivan and saw Ted Kennedy sitting in the passenger seat looking worried.
--With nowhere else to go, I joined a group at a co-worker's house where some staffers from John Warner's office told us that the senator lost it and started yelling that it was World War III.
--Later, seeing no one on the DC streets but cops/soldiers with automatic weapons.
--Looking towards the Pentagon from Rosslyn and seeing the column of smoke.
I'm certainly not unique in this, but that was the scariest day of my life. Later, I was moved how people came together and the flag became a symbol of unity, rather than jingoism. It's sad how 9/11 has become politicized and that the post 9/11 togetherness was so fleeting.
i was remembering the same thing about the flag. i torn one out of the newspaper later that week and it was in my window (and most of my neighbor's) for months after 9/11. it was probably the first time in my life that i had an emotional attachment to that symbol.
Hard to believe this was seven years ago. The day is very much a blur to me, with some very vivid memories sprinkled in. On my walk to the bus stop today I was thinking about walking to work on 9/11/2001 - it was a similar kind of day, perfect blue sky, in the 70s. And just an hour or so later, seeing that sky marred by the smoke from the Pentagon. Ilsa - I'm so glad you wrote down your memory of the day. I was actually wondering if I imagined hearing the sound of the plane hitting the Pentagon - or sort of inserted that sound later in my memory.
I remember the entire staff at UWA gathering in the conference room, and our interim CEO telling everyone they should go home if they wanted to, but that I couldn't make myself leave. Dave wasn't home yet, and I didn't want to be by myself.
When I finally did go home that day, I remember seeing that our neighbor, who was of Middle Eastern descent, had shaved his beard - already anticipating the backlash.
Ilsa, thanks for this post. I think it is important to remember that day, as tragic and sad as it was.
I had forgotten that our neighbor shaved his beard. I was definitely scared of a backlash and seem to remember that someone did smash the window of an Islamic bookstore in Alexandria. Talk about scary, Arab Americans must have been petrified.
What I remember -
first I heard of it was from Heller tech support when I called to say I couldn't get internet access (everyone was online)
I emailed Ilsa and she was okay; my brother Matt and my mom called me and told me they wanted me to go home because they were afraid other big cities would be attacked.
Heller sent us home. Two coworkers came to my house with me to watch coverage on the news. I think I stood the whole time.
John was at a conference and knew very little until later in the day.
More vivid are the subsequent days, when I was also very scared, especially if I heard planes. I didn't sleep much. I checked a bunch of books out of the library and read them all back to back to distract myself. My parents came to visit about two days later and I didn't really want them there because I wasn't really functioning socially. Luckily John is always socially competent (and then some)!!
Anyway, Ilsa, I appreciate you starting off the opportunity to remember and make some small note of the gravity of that day. Here's to the ~3,000 lost and their families.
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