Saturday, September 10, 2005

Nine-Eleven Remembered

Tomorrow is the fourth anniversary of 9/11. I wrote a post to commemorate this day awhile ago as a draft, but I have decided not to publish it. I will just say this: 9/11 hit me quite hard. I watched the smoke pouring from the Towers from my office across the river in NJ. I knew people in the city, and I knew people in DC. (Thankfully, no one I knew was killed). Maybe next year I will tell my whole story. But for now, I have decided to tell the story of the first time I laughed after 9/11.
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It was the following Friday night, sometime after midnight. I had been glued to the tv, and since I worked at a newspaper, I couldn't even get away from the coverage while I was at work. It was constant inundation. I don't think I had stopped crying yet. I was losing my mind just a little bit.

Hub and I were lying in bed watching tv, because even though a few days had passed, we still couldn't sleep. All of a sudden, I heard what I thought were bombs dropping. I asked Hub if he heard anything, and he said no. He muted the tv, and all we heard was silence. A few minutes later I heard it again. This time Hub heard it too. He muted the tv again, and we lay there, listening to what sounded like massive fireworks happening maybe a few towns away. But it was after midnight, it couldn't be fireworks. I was sure they were bombing Manhattan, which is only about 10 miles from me.

Hub and I just lay there, listening and wondering what we should do. Should we evacuate? Should we just get in the car and drive west? Should we go into the basement and tape up the windows to "protect" us from a nuclear attack?

Then, suddenly, Hub leans over the side of the bed. The noise stops. The dog gets up, walks to the end of the bed, and shakes the sleep off himself. That's right, you guessed it. Gypsy was snoring; that was the noise we were so sure was the end of NYC as we knew it. His rumbling combined with the sound of the ceiling fan sounded to us like a reason to flee New Jersey in our pj's.

And we both laughed. It was this release, as if to say, we are going to be ok. We are going insane, but we are going to be ok.
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I am off to shore for a few days. But before I go - good news! I got a job! A job I really wanted! Now I get to buy myself some new clothes! And maybe an ipod! Woo hoo! I will tell more about the job when I get back from the shore.

Have a great weekend, all!

18 comments:

Kim said...

Congrats on your new job!!!!!

That's so funny about Gypsy. LOL! I once had to turn the lights on in the middle of the night to make sure there wasn't someone else in my room with me .... it was my dog, snoring like an old man.

Unknown said...

Congrats on the new job! Woo hoo, here comes the money!

Unknown said...

GREAT GOING ON THE NEW JOB! and a very nice post too!! lol

Anonymous said...

That IS funny!

It took me about a week to smile after that also. I was in a class at Kean University when it happened. I ran up to the top of one of the buildings to see the towers.. or what was just a smokey gap in teh sky. It hit me hard. Fortunately those I know who were there got away. But I was a mess. I woke up in the middle of the night trembling so hard.

It took me about a week to smile again, and to be able to laugh.

But that story about the dog is GREAT :D

AND CONGRATULATIONS ON THE NEW JOB!!!! And yay for the new clothes!!That feels good doesn't it? :D

Mary said...

Ahh, great story. :)
Congrats on the job, too! Awesome news. Yes, get an iPod and get all addicted like me, come on!
Happy weekend on the shore.

annie said...

That's a great story!

A few weeks after 9/11 I went outside to smke and heard this "ROAR" from a low-flying plane. We lived in a flight path, but this plane was WAY lower than usual and then it did a big, sharp turn. I was terrified!
I guess it was just waiting for clearance to land, though, and had to circle. Nothing bad happened.
Ugh.
Thanks again for the laugh about your dog!

Jenn said...

I'll let you check out my 9/11 story when you're ready. However, I saw get the iPod. I love mine and am such a iWhore (as my friends and I call ourselves, either that or an iGeek). Enjoy the shore! :)

Danielle said...

dogs are wonderful for bringing smiles! can't wait to hear about the new job! have a wonderful weekend...

Dawn said...

have a good time! Congrats on the new job!

Mamacita (The REAL one) said...

That's wonderful about your new job! I'll take heart; maybe there's one out there for me somewhere.

iPod. Awesome.

New clothes. Awesome.

Snoring dog. Hilarious.

It's little things that keep us going.

Sleeping Mommy said...

That story about the "bombs" is both hilarious and sad...it say so much about the fear we all had hanging over us...

And congrats on the job sweetie!

Molly said...

Hooray for the new job! I hope that you absolutely love it!

Kathleen said...

Congratulations on the new job

And nice memory for 9/11.

Hope you're having (or had) fun at the shore!

Kathleen said...

Congratulations on the new job

And nice memory for 9/11.

Hope you're having (or had) fun at the shore!

Natsthename said...

Congrats on the new job!!!

ANd peace, enjoy the shore!

jlybn123 said...

That was a great tension breaker for you! I'm sure it was just what the two of you needed at the time! I can still remember that day, like it was yesterday. Breaks my heart.

Congrats on the new job...can't wait to hear all about it!

Anonymous said...

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!
tell us more tell us more!!

but enjoy the shore first!!!

I think whatever way you chose to remember the 9/11 is fine, as long as its TRUE and honest. which you are. :-)

Holly said...

You're in the money.... Gymboree watch out! CONGRATS!!! Hope you are enjoying your down time.

Thanks for the nice memorial post.