On September 11, 2001, I was working as a live in manager in a group home for developmentally disabled adults, and I got up, as usual and prepared everyone for work, getting them their breakfast and sending them off with their job coach. My day staff and I were sitting in the kitchen waiting for the last job coach to arrive.
The last job coach arrived, and told us that a small plane hit the World Trade Center, and that they thought it was an accident. We turned on the TV just as the second plane was slamming into the tower and we knew it was no accident. We sat down in shock, and I excused my day staff from most of her daily activities so that we could keep up with what was going on. I ran down to our downstairs apartment and told my wife to turn on the TV.
One of my early thoughts was for my cousin, who works for an advertising firm high up in the John Hancock Center in Chicago. As soon as we knew that the major skyscrapers in Chicago had been evacuated, I was quite relieved. It was payday, and I realized that, rightly or wrongly, there would probably be price gouging on the gas, so I went out and filled up. As I paid the cashier, I paused to date my check, and the incredible irony of that moment hit me as I knew it would be indelibly etched in my mind for the rest of my life.
I had called a friend to tell him of the attack, and he turned on the TV. As we watched, the first tower collapsed, and I thought just the top fell off the building. It looked like a controlled demolition (even though I don't buy into conspiracy theories, I can see where they arrived at that conclusion). When the TV showed Bush at the Florida school, my immediate thought was that he had the toughest job in the world at the time. Though he has been criticized for the "stunned silence", I, at least, understood it. He is, after all, human, and this form of attack was unprecedented.
Just over two weeks later, I attended Farm Aid with my dad in Noblesville, Indiana. With 9/11 fresh on our minds, the security was intense (my dad got held up at the gate because of his bottled water...lol). In my mind, the 2001 Farm Aid concert, though for a different purpose, was every bit as emotional as the concert for NYC. At one point, Neil Young brought a firefighter onstage who had volunteered from Indiana to go out and clean up and had been working nonstop up until that point. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house.
September 11, 2001 was a date that changed us forever. Whether for the better or the worse has yet to be determined.
respectfully submitted,
Gideon MacLeish