Darrel and I just enjoyed a visit from our beautiful, 19 year old, granddaughter, Azariah.  She came to spend time with us and to update us on her latest happenings.  Our amazing grand baby has always been an independent thinker and readily shares her viewpoints. Inquisitive about many aspects of life, Azariah asks a multitude of questions.  On this particular visit, Azariah asked us if we remembered where we were 20 years ago, on 9/11/2001, and what our thought process was.

Darrel and I both vividly remember that day. Darrel was at work when the manager announced that airplanes had hit the Twin Towers.  Everyone gathered around the televisions in the lunchroom.  With so many unanswered questions, there was a general air of shock and confusion. People asked what to do next.  The office closed and everyone was told to go home.  Darrel said he felt a mixture of shock and horror.  He felt vulnerable that the strongest country in the world could be under attack at home. Those things happen from afar for the most part.  During his ride home on public transit, everyone was unusually quiet.  Each one lost in their own thoughts.  Darrel said when he got downtown he looked up and saw one commercial airplane flying.  He watched with trepidation as all flights had been suspended. 

On 9/11, I was at work as well.  A little before 9am my co-worker’s father called informing her that a plane had just flown into one of the Twin Towers.  At that time, we all thought there had been a terrible accident.   Shortly after, we heard a plane had hit the second Tower. We turned on the news and watched in horror at the two burning planes.  I particularly remember how closely we stood near each other as it dawned on us that this was no accident, we were under attack. Domestic or foreign at that time we did not know.  The office closed for the day and we all quickly left.  It was not until I returned home that I learned about the third airplane hitting the Pentagon.

I called my cousin Petey to see how the New York relatives were.  He told me that both his wife Pam and his sister Karen worked at the World Trade Center on the 29th floor.  When the second plane hit their Tower, they were told to take the stairs to the ground floor.  We are thankful that Pam and Karen safely made it home that day.

A few days afterwards, in a state of despair, I took a walk.  I was passing a church, I did not know the denomination, but I felt the need for solace. The doors were open so I entered. It was full of people from all walks of life.  There was a constant stream of people coming and going. All who entered were comforted with prayers and embraces from others with heavy hearts. Caring people from all over contributed by personally going to NY to provide aid.  Others contributed through monetary and other support.  Collectively we grieved for all of the lives that were lost.

After sharing our experiences with Azariah, I wanted to find out how learning about 9/11 had affected her.  Azariah said that even though she participated in Remembrance Ceremony’s at school each year, she still did not have a full understanding of what had happened.  When her mother showed her news clips, she thought it was a movie.  At around age 7, she grasped that it had really happened.  Azariah is uneasy with the aftermath.  She does not like it that family and friends can no longer see you off when you get on an airplane. Azariah said she does not understand how countries can hate each other so much to kill and sacrifice their own lives to kill others.  She wonders why this happens. 

Azariah said that she has mixed emotions as an American. “There is always talk about being united, but Americans are still killing Americans.”  Azariah said she does not completely understand what is going on in politics so she asks questions and observes. She notices how defensive people get when talking about politics.  She feels that many of the bad things happening are in retaliation because of who the president is.  “People are voting for the lesser of two evils not for someone that they believe in.  Americans and people from other countries take their hatred or strong dislike and try to do harmful things.”  Azariah believes that at this point we are all to blame. “USA vs Korea vs Russia vs Afghanistan, we all are to blame.  No one has said we did this to you guys, we are sorry.”

In closing, Azariah asks if everyone reading this blog would leave, in the comment section, their answer to her question, “What were you doing, where were you, what were your first thoughts, when 9/11 happened?”

In Remembrance,

Darrel, Amanda, and Azariah

Thumbnail Photo by Sharefaith from Pexels; Photo by Kevin McCartney from Pexels