Something Different: Five Years: Where Were You?
Where Was I?
I don't remember what radio station was on when I turned on the car. It was probably between 6:15 and 6:30 am. I was on my way to work in St. Helena, and had to be there by 7:00. All of the information was disjointed, and as I neared the end of my street, I wondered if I should even continue in to work, or turn around and head back home to find out what was going on. I decided to continue in to work, and by the time I got there, I still didn't really know what was going on. I called home, and left a message for my boyfriend that he should probably wake up and turn on the news. He called me a short while later, and the first thing he said was "what the hell is going on?". I told him that from what I could gather, this was a terrorist attack orchestrated by someone named Osama Bin Laden. He said "Robyn, this is not good. If he is behind this, we are in big trouble". I had never heard the name before that day.
I was dying to call my mother. She and my dad were living in Hawaii, and my dad worked at Pearl Harbor Shipyard directly for the Admiral in charge of Pacific Operations. He was also in Philadelphia attending meetings, and scheduled to fly to DC. I was panicing, because I had no idea when he was supposed to be flying to DC. But, it was still only 4 or 5:00 in the morning in Hawaii. I called, and my mom had just gotten off the phone with my older sister. I remember bursting into tears and saying, "where's dad?". My co-worker Mary Lee was sitting at the desk directly across from me, and you could tell she was about to burst into tears as well. Luckily for us, my dad was still safely on the ground, and actually at a military base in Philadelphia. We weren't able to talk to him for more than 8 hours though.
I tried to work as usual, but the radio was on right behind my ear all day long. I was so drained by the end of it, I went straight home and huddled on the couch. I completely forgot to go to the dressmaker and get my bridesmaid's dress fitted for my sister's wedding.
Note: by "boyfriend", I mean the man that is now my husband. Just in case you thought I would live with some random guy.
I don't remember what radio station was on when I turned on the car. It was probably between 6:15 and 6:30 am. I was on my way to work in St. Helena, and had to be there by 7:00. All of the information was disjointed, and as I neared the end of my street, I wondered if I should even continue in to work, or turn around and head back home to find out what was going on. I decided to continue in to work, and by the time I got there, I still didn't really know what was going on. I called home, and left a message for my boyfriend that he should probably wake up and turn on the news. He called me a short while later, and the first thing he said was "what the hell is going on?". I told him that from what I could gather, this was a terrorist attack orchestrated by someone named Osama Bin Laden. He said "Robyn, this is not good. If he is behind this, we are in big trouble". I had never heard the name before that day.
I was dying to call my mother. She and my dad were living in Hawaii, and my dad worked at Pearl Harbor Shipyard directly for the Admiral in charge of Pacific Operations. He was also in Philadelphia attending meetings, and scheduled to fly to DC. I was panicing, because I had no idea when he was supposed to be flying to DC. But, it was still only 4 or 5:00 in the morning in Hawaii. I called, and my mom had just gotten off the phone with my older sister. I remember bursting into tears and saying, "where's dad?". My co-worker Mary Lee was sitting at the desk directly across from me, and you could tell she was about to burst into tears as well. Luckily for us, my dad was still safely on the ground, and actually at a military base in Philadelphia. We weren't able to talk to him for more than 8 hours though.
I tried to work as usual, but the radio was on right behind my ear all day long. I was so drained by the end of it, I went straight home and huddled on the couch. I completely forgot to go to the dressmaker and get my bridesmaid's dress fitted for my sister's wedding.
Note: by "boyfriend", I mean the man that is now my husband. Just in case you thought I would live with some random guy.
posted by Robyn at
10:11 AM
2 Comments:
Wow. It's amazing to hear everyone's stories.
You know it wasn't until recently that I even realized that many people on the west coast may have slept through the whole thing (because of the time difference). Unless they had to be at work early like you, I imagine they felt a lot like "Lisa." You go to sleep and then you wake up and the whole world has gone mad. So scary!
I know you must have been terrified not knowing if your Dad was okay (just like how I felt about my family). I'm so grateful that you and I were unlike other families who received horrible news on that day instead of sighs of relief.
By
Reese The Law Girl, at 12:01 PM
I can tell you now, it was just as scary being here in Sydney. It happened around 10-11pm our time on the 11th, and I was at my mum's house which is 5 mins from the middle of the city. Mum burst into my room and told me, and we sat there in my bed together just glued to the tv, wondering if something else was going to happen here or anywhere else for that matter.
It wasn't fun as my dad was overseas and had been in NY the week before. Fortunately he was in Malaysia this time, but was stuck there for a few days too.
It's a time I shall never ever forget, and it still brings tears to my eyes.
By
Squishi, at 5:52 AM
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