365 Days of Bliss – 9/11 Never Forget
Hi everyone – it is Darla and today is the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. This is one of those days that no matter where you were – your life changed in some small way. Ten years ago, two planes were highjacked by terrorists and forced to crash into the Twin Towers in New York City – it took less than 2 hours for the buildings to fall. While everyone was horrified watching this attack – another plane was highjacked and forced to crash into the Pentagon. The last plane that was also part of this plot against America landed in a field in Pennsylvania after passengers attempted to take control of the situation. All in all over 3,000 people died that day.
I remember watching people looking for their lost ones and just crying thinking how someone left for their morning day – and then didn’t come back. The days that followed had similar stories and I felt so numb watching it all. Then one evening, a reporter was interviewing a mother who had to tell her little daughter that her father was not coming home. The mother sat there crying as she watched her daughter’s reaction and then the little girl asked her quietly if God had enough hands to all the people who died that day. I instantly started crying and couldn’t help feel so helpless about everything going on around me. Suddenly I felt a tiny little hand grab mine and I looked down and there was my daughter, Amy looking up at me with such innocence that I knew God was telling me to remember how blessed I am to have my family with me.
A year later, Amy came home from 1st grade with her picture she drew representing the 9/11 attacks and I was overwhelmed with how her little mind was able to capture such a huge tragedy. I laminated that picture and journaled about the story I had heard on the news but never created any layout because I couldn’t get past the sadness I felt as I looked at the picture. Last night, as I was mulling over what I wanted to do for my post – I remembered the picture and sat down to create the layout I had never could do before. Below is my layout using the beautiful In the City kit by Jennifer Barrette:
I am really happy to take that picture out and have the memory of that day in a layout that I can share with my family as the years pass. This was one of the good things that came from the tragedy – many people felt a renewal to be better or do better because life could change so dramatically in a second. I know in my family we have made it a part of our day to make sure we say a proper goodbye before we leave our house and we try very hard not to end our days with someone upset or mad. Perhaps that is the way every family should be but sometimes it takes something like this to make you realize how blessed you are to have the family before you.
I have a few other layouts that some of our Babes also did to remember the day I would like to share with you today – “A Life Changing Moment” created by Sugarbabe, Rebecca:
and another powerful layout – “9-11” layout by Sugarbabe, Steph:
Since SSD is like a family to me, I asked some of my fellow Sugarbabes to share their answers to the following questions:
1. Where were you when the 9/11 tragedy happened? What do you remember most about the day?
Sugarbabe Rebecca: I was on a 2 week business trip in Beech Island, SC and I remember this lady from the mill kept on interrupting our training class. Found out what had happened and tried to watch as much as I could on the internet (I wasn’t training that day, I was just there for support). One of our trainer’s husband’s suffered a heart attack and I gave her my rental car to drive back to Wisconsin. With all the planes grounded, our 2 week trip became a 4 week trip… after that I had an issue with flying and shortly switched jobs that limited my travel.
Sugarbabe Steph: What I remember most about that day is the fear, the terror and the utter sadness I experienced. I have never felt that way ever in my entire life. That day was the most frightening and saddest day I have ever lived through. I saw it all unfold first hand on the TV. I was watching live TV when the second plane hit the tower. NBC was carrying the footage live and they were trying to figure out and speculating on what happened to the North Tower when a plane comes into view and hits the South tower. That was unreal. And I still tear up and cry thinking about it and thinking about what happened that day. It is almost as if 10 years has not passed by – that is how raw my emotion is about this. I think about how someone could hate us so much to plan something like this. But in turn – I think about how nothing like this has happened again on US soil in 10 years. I think about how strong the US leaders are in NOT letting this happen again. I thank the military and their families for fighting for me, my husband and my children. So that I can live in my little house and go about my normal life and not hold this fear in my heart on a daily basis.
Designer Darcy Baldwin: I was at home with my 18mo (now almost 12). He spent a lot of time in his high chair ‘snacking’ and watching Veggie Tales while I ran back and forth to the back of the house to watch updates. The biggest thing, I remember, is sleeping with the TV on while they were showing all the rescuers, because I couldn’t bear to turn it off..and leave them alone – it felt wrong. Someone had to watch to support them.
Sugarbabe Nikki: I was at work teaching a classroom of 5th graders. My team teacher knocked on my door and said that something terrible had happened…she thought the Pentagon had been bombed. It wasn’t until I was able to send my class to Music that we were able to get around a TV and see what was really happening. I just remember not understanding at first..and then just total shock.
Sugarbabe Heather: I was at home and newly married… Mark was downtown (he worked in a high-rise building in Chicago) working. He called me to turn on the TV. It was like watching a movie and so surreal. I also freaked and wanted Mark to come home before Chicago got hit. We lived in a high-rise in the suburbs and it was just really weird to no longer see the airplanes flying and we also lived across the street from the train station and they added trains to the schedule because everyone was coming home from the city. I just sat and watched TV all day in tears and was on the phone with Mark giving him the play-by-play since the web was so bombarded with people trying to get the news.
Sugarbabe Andrea: I had just moved to a new town, one week into a new job with no friends. My parents were on holiday in Italy and my brother flew out of the UK to Las Vegas on the morning of September 11th. The news broke live over here in the UK just as school was finishing here, the radio in my car was just telling me the most dreadful news and as I drove home in shock at what I was hearing I suddenly realised that Chris had flown out of Manchester and at that time no one had any idea where these planes had come from or who they were etc. I spent the evening glued to the television with no idea where my brother was and I couldn’t contact my parents. All the helplines here were crazy and whilst we knew they had taken off they hadn’t turned around as most of the flights had and they hadn’t landed in America as all air space was closed. By bedtime I knew from the television that the planes that had crashed weren’t his plane but I eventually had to ring my parents hotel in Rome and speak to an Italian man who couldn’t speak English and beg him to help me find my parents and then tell him that no one knew where Chris’s plane was. The airlines and airport and UK government could only say that it had left Manchester and they had no idea where it was. All night I watched the television and it was just heartbreaking and numbing watching the images on there. It was 2 days later that my brother called me to say he was in Calgary Canada that they had been redirected there with another 80 planes and that there were no phone lines into the UK and queues halfway around the airport for the payphones when the phonelines were working. 3 days later he came home and came to the school where I was teaching and I have never been so glad to see my little brother ever. It would have been a terrible week anyway but it was the worst week of my life until my brother and my parents came home safely as I was completely alone and I knew no one where we were living who I could go to for help
2. Did you make any personal changes in your life after this happened – example: called your family more often, spent more “family time”, made amends with someone in the past?
Sugarbabe Steph: We’ve really not changed anything per say – I’d say I am less naive and less trustworthy of people. Flying has been heck. And every trip I go on – I swear I am flagged. I need pat downs and full body scans and air being blown at me (this was at Statue of Liberty).
Designer Darcy Baldwin: We’ve made more changes to how we live – with purpose. We’re more mindful of impending disaster, in whatever form, and we’ve tried to reach out to our neighbors much more than before.
Sugarbabe Nikki: 9/11 changed our family forever. At the time Brian and I were engaged, I knew I was marrying into the military, but that was a pre-9/11 world and deployment was really a foreign concept for national guardsmen. Since 9/11 Brian has deployed twice and will start his 3rd deployment by the end of the year.
Sugarbabe Heather: I’d say my changes aren’t all for the good… I’ve become much more anxious about everything and about losing someone close to me… it did however make me realize that anything can happen at any time and I make sure my kids and Mark know how much I love them all the time… it might drive them nuts but I want them to know in case something were to happen to me while I’m gone.
Sugarbabe Tracy: I wouldn’t say that we made major family changes, but we were pretty anxious about flying after that. We didn’t get on another plane until 2004 and were nervous the whole time.
Sugarbabe Andrea: We started to go on holiday together again so that I was never left at home alone and by myself again and for several years afterwards I had a list in my bag, phone and at home with people to ring who could help me if I was in trouble again because that week when I was all by myself and especially the 2 and half days when I had no idea where my brother was gave me nightmares and panic attacks for ages afterwards.
I think today is about reflection and remembering those who lost their lives in such a horrible fashion. But their memories still go on in their families, tributes on tv and layouts some of us have bravely tried to scrap. Enjoy your day, enjoy your family and most of all please take a moment today to remember life’s path can change in a few seconds so live it with all the love and joy that you can. If you feel it in your heart to do more, please visit this really cool site 911day.org to see what others are trying to do today and perhaps you will be inspired to share your own actions for today. Happy Scrapping!
