This was the Aug-September Challenge for our Facebook Group
called Mixing It All Up.. Great group of folks.. You can find us by clicking here.
The challenge that Sandee.. our fearless Artist Leader gave us.. was to tell her where we were.. during 9/11/01 and create a journal page about it... In this case it was easier for me to talk about than it was for me to draw. I saw so much! Hard for me to ONLY create one page. So I will begin with with this...
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On 9/11/2001 .. I worked for an airline.. and I had just worked a lot of OT because we had cancelled all of our overnight and first flights departures.. due to some flight regulations issues.. which could be a number of things.. they never told us what.. Then I was up the next morning ONLY to see this.. across my TV screen.. A skyline I recognized so well.. up in smoke and flames.. and it wasn't some marvel comic movie trailer. It was real.. very real... The only thing memory that surpasses the planes exploding as they crashed into the buildings.. were the thousands and thousands of faces that came across my screen.. wondering who they were.. what their story was.. if family saw them long enough to know they were ok.. Power was down.. phone lines were down from Manhattan Area.. for a longggg time.. all we had was the media.. I volunteered and went right back to work and almost lived there. We prayed with panicking people over the phone. We sat and talked and talked and 3wayed phone calls. As I worked I thought of all my friends who lived there and wondered if they and their loved ones were ok. I found out my godson was on a trip.. so every little black boy I saw...I looked to see if it was him.. well after he got someplace and called his mom and told her he was ok.. and would have to walk home.. and would take a few hrs.. but he was ok.. My friends who drove trains..were finally home and safe.. It took weeks to hear from everyone I could think of.. Anyway.. a year later.. and for a few years after that.. coworkers and I..use to fly to NYC.. to show people we we not afraid to fly.. we were not going to let an incident, although traumatic as it was.. keep us.. closed from the world. Nothing wrong with being an alert traveler and ALL TRAVELING is serious business.. although the reason to travel.. may vary..
Thank you for sharing your story, I learned a little more about you. I didn't have any friends or family that was even remotely close to being there or worked in a job that dealt with things that were connected to that time. I cannot begin to think of the stories that your godson must remember from that walk home and all the people he must have encountered along the way!!
ReplyDeleteTamiko. That was a real testimony. Better than a journal page. A lot of blog love for this one .
ReplyDeleteWow.......beautiful story yet sad at the same time.Thank you for sharing your intimate thoughts with all of us. You did a wonderful job on your on your presentation of what was going thru your mind at the time. I find it hard to do this challenge because it is hard to say "Oh what a beautiful painting, drawing, whatever" because there was nothing Beautiful or wonderfull or any of those kind of words to describe that day and days that followed.
ReplyDeleteCant imaging what it would have been like working the phones and counter of an airline at that time.. Thanks for sharing your story with us..
ReplyDeleteSandy :)
Tamiko. Wonderful to hear your story.
ReplyDeleteTamiko. Wonderful to hear your story. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDelete