ten years ago

I was two months pregnant with my twin sons and getting some rest at home. I turned the television on and stared in utter shock and fear like millions of other people in the rest of the world. I called my husband who was working at his office and begged him to come home as soon as he could. "Why? What's going on?" he asked. "Something terrible has just happened. I'm scared. Please come home" was all I could tell him.

When he finally opened the door 30 minutes later I ran to him in tears. We hold each other and our unborn children for a long moment, praying that they grow up in a safer world.

As we commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy today, please share with us an image that celebrates life, and your stories and memories from ten years ago.

We are giving away one $100  Paper Coterie gift card EVERY SINGLE DAY of September. Share a comment each day before midnight EST for your chance to win that day's random drawing. Be sure to leave links to your story shots.

Comments

[LeAnne]

I blogged a little about this in my newly created and not well developed little blog. But, here is the photo I chose for today and my thoughts on this day:

http://photosbyleanne.blogspot.com/2011/09/never-let-it-go.html

[urban muser]

irene, thank you for sharing this lovely post. i rarely talk about my 9/11 experience but felt the need to share pieces of it today. http://www.urbanmuser.com/2011/09/colors-of-911.html

[AmyG]

I was 9 months pregnant. I have always had a strong intuition. I woke up that morning throwing up. I hadn't been sick my entire pregnancy. My parents were going on a bus trip. I called them begging them to stay home in case I needed them. I went to lay on the couch. I knew in my gut that something was changing, something was happening. I thought I was going into labor. Then my husband called and told me to turn on the tv. I remember being stone still. I couldn't speak, I couldn't move. When the first tower collapsed I broke down. My grandfather and uncles, though long past, were all firemen when alive. The enormity of knowing how many brave men and women fire fighters lost their lives when that building collapsed broke me. Knowing they ran in, when everyone else was running out....

ten days later I gave birth to my first son.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/amygillard/5957478837/

[Jen*Murphy]

I was at work. It was a quiet, peaceful morning. That all changed in minutes. One of the customers told me what had happened so we turned on the radio and listened to it all unfold. I was so scared for my kids. They were at school. I called the school because I was planning on signing them out. They assured me that they were ok. They wanted me to leave them at school because there was no threat. I left them there but boy was I rushed to pick them up at the end of the day. I gave them such big hugs and cried. They were too young to understand.
I'm sharing this most recent photo of my kids. It's not the best.
http://flickr.com/gp/jlm513_jens_pics/6Zp9s5

[Jennifée]

My thoughts are with all my American photographer friends on this day.

Ten years ago, I was at home in Oslo, keeping to my bed with a cold. A friend called me and told me about the first plane. I thought he was describing a new roleplaying scenario - we were eager roleplayers at the time - since something like that surely only happens in fiction. Then when I realised it was actually happening, I turned on the tv to watch the second plane hit. Unforgettable, even from half the world away.

I have no better image celebrating life than this one from the aftermath of the July 22nd attacks here in Norway:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jennifee/5977974235/in/set-72157627309918798

[Stephanie (Keenemomma)]

I too thought of the skies today. I posted this on the OWP page as 'my story.'
That day I actually began to think it was best I never had children, but somehow the that strange 'coming together' the events created instilled in me the need to grow my family, to extend the sense of hope. I gave birth to my first child, my son, two years later on 9/9/03.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58066769@N05/6135930719/

[Dorean Beattie]

I had just woken up and turned on the news, still in bed, getting a slow start to the day. I stared in shock at live coverage of the first tower with smoke pouring out it's side. When I heard what had happened, I ran and woke up my teenaged kids, "You need to come watch the news. Something awful is going on." Shortly after we witnessed the second plane hitting the other tower. I called my husband at work and told him to turn on the news. After the towers fell, the kids and I got in the car and drove the 45 minutes to our church to pray. On the way we saw gas lines, something my kids had never seen. We spent the rest of the day in the church with a group of people praying for the safety and future of our nation.

This link has actually three photos that speak of life. This is my adopted granddaughter. She has fetal alcohol syndrome, and spent the first three years of her life in an orphanage. When she first came to our family she had turned totally inward. She never spoke, and if something upset her she would drop to the floor, hug herself and rock. There was no outward sign of emotion, and no interaction with others. Through the love and wisdom of her parents, she learned to trust and to come out of that shell she had been in her whole life. These photos speak to me of the power of love to bring forth life from even the darkest, hardest to reach places. http://capturedbylight.wordpress.com/2011/06/21/my-little-loves-pt-2/

[bridge]

I had dropped my son off at kindergarten (it started at 8:45) and then began my 25 minute commute to work. What I heard on the radio was the unfolding of heartbreak and sadness unlike any other day. At that time I was living in upstate NY, my sister in Brooklyn talked to me on the phone through the course of the day describing her pain and what she was witnessing. Each 11th of September I look to the sky and to nature to reflect upon those lost that day.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ridethewavesoflife/2489904674/in/set-72157624853501064/

[xanthe]

I had a similar day too, pregnant and full of emotion. We will always remember. Extra hugs need today.
http://www.xantheberkeley.com/911/

[Sonja (a.k.a. Boots)]

I'm jazzed about his giveaway!

Need a hug?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59045634@N04/6134818823/

[JEANNE]

I also posted a brief remembrance on my recently started blog when I woke this morning in honor of 9?11. It is an event that I will never forget, and yet want this day to be a commemoration also of the progress forward that we have made, in spite of the horror of this day..... a day in which truly, the innocence of America was lost. Recently saw an article in People Magazine about the children of people who died on 9/11, and how they and their families have been able to move forward in spite of this terrible happening in their lives. Hope that all Americans are also able to succeed, in spite of many difficulties in the country, to move forward, and make this an event that causes great growth and deepening of the spirit.

http://thebutterflymetamorphosis.blogspot.com

[Antoinette]

Never Forget
http://www.flickr.com/photos/acbrush/6136319727/in/photostream

[Marcie]

We all carry our memories from that day. I wrote about it here:
http://www.marciescudderphotography.com/home/2011/5/8/hopes-future.html
And - am honoring it today here:
http://marciescudderstudios.squarespace.com/home/2011/9/10/butterflies-are-free.html

[joey]

On 9/11/2001 I was just dating my husband. We spent most of that day in my little grad school apartment watching things unfold. Now we are married and have four small kids and on this day he is off flying to a work meeting. I can imagine the pain of the families that lost their loved ones ten years ago and feel so lucky that we are here living the dream.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/19379573@N06/6136453579/in/photostream

I'm alone with the kids today and have chosen not to tell them about what happened 10 years ago. I wonder when I'll be ready to open their eyes to such horrible things.

[Denise]

I was home working away when my mother called me. The feelings, emotions, sadness and, strangely, hope that was born on that day will never, never be forgotten. Nor will the stories....

[Jeanne]

I drew inspiration from a special find yesterday.

[Stephanie]

The photo isn't mine, but I blogged a little about what I remember from 10 years ago. I had just started my sophomore year of college and woke up that morning to find classes canceled and the city deserted.

http://bigmariolife.blogspot.com/2011/09/remembering.html

[Deborah]

I have so many memories from that horrible day, the tears, the senseless act of violence, wondering if more attacks were about to happen and if we would be harmed. As so many have already posted here, it was so frightening. I will never forget.

But today I wanted to remember that out of the ashes of all that destruction we have survived and hopefully we are a better people for it. Thanks to a photo prompt in Picture Inspiration for this week, I needed to take a photo of where I stand. And here is my photo: http://tischd.blogspot.com/2011/09/where-i-stand.html

May we never take our freedom for granted.

Peace and blessings to all of you....

[Christina]

I just poured my first cup of coffee and just sent my little one off to Kindergarten with a naive belief that my child was still safe in America.....

[Dotti]

My reflections on this day ten years later are found at my website. Please visit me there:

http://www.camperky.com

[Credit card apply online]

For these thousands, Press For Truth was the rational, skeptical, mainstream motion picture examination of the events of September 11th they had been eagerly awaiting.

[cathy @ ma vie trouvee]

Around the world, this day will never be forgotten.

[Heather]

I am a New Yorker. Born in Manhattan. Raised in Brooklyn. Transplanted in Connecticut. And that's where I was on September 11. In Connecticut. Trying madly to get cell phones to pick up and reach loved ones who worked in the downtown area. I will always remember that day - down to the black floral dress I was wearing. How in my office we were squished into a cubicle watching a 6 inch tiny black and white tv as the tower fell. Such a massive and emotional event witnessed on such a tiny tv.

I do know one person whose name is now etched on that beautiful memorial. And I think of him on this day and the wife and two boys he left behind at the age 32. Today I sat with my 9 year old and told him what happened on this day. And about Stu Meltzer who had two boys and who was taken too soon.

This picture reminds me of how lucky I am that I get to go to soccer games and be a parent to my boys - when so many were tragically taken on a day that forever changed America...and me...forever.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/htekmo/6134755612/in/photostream

[Meghan @ Life Refocused]

It still is so surreal to me to have lived through something so indelible, so tragic. Such a "I'll never forget when" moment....

[Olivia]

I blogged about my memories of that tragic day here: http://www.moomama.com/2011/09/i-remember.html

Here is a photo celebrating all that is good and joyful in our lives these past 10 years: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zenmom96/6137839681/in/photostream

[Bonnie]

I was a young professional, childless; my husband and I were a bit late leaving for work and listening to NPR. We heard about the first plane crash . . . I assumed it was an accident--some small plane getting mixed up with air traffic control. When we found out it was not an accident, the first thought was 'what is going on?'. Work that day was surreal. We tried to carry on but no-one could work, of course.

10 years later and I have 2 children. There is a fall festival in the town that I now call home. It is the weekend after Labor Day. Today, was the second day of the festival and we can buy arm bands for the kids so they can ride rides all day long. It is one of their favorite days of the year. She knows nothing of the events that happened 10 years ago and, for now, that is okay:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bjakobsen-martin/6138079529/

[anngeedee]

We were working in London at the time. My boyfriend (now husband) called me to turn on the afternoon news because a plane had accidently crashed into a building in New York. We witnessed the terrible events unfold as Americans in a foreign land. We felt helpless as we watched countless coworkers desperately calling their loved ones on Wall Street. The next day we were issued a company-wide decree to keep our voices low, stay away from the Embassy and to "try not to advertise that we were American." I wore all black to work that day. I knew of no other way to mourn.

[Amy E.]

Despite the terrible things that happen, God's creation is beautiful. http://www.flickr.com/photos/67244309@N07/6138310729/in/photostream
Time is a gift. Enjoy each day!

[Sara S]

My son was born on 9-11-00 and we thought it was the coolest date because my dad was a volunteer fireman and it was his first grandson after not having son. I had planned to take the afternoon off for his first birthday so I went to work in the morning when a co-worker told me about the planes. I remember trying to get to any of the news websites and they were all bogged down. I couldn't wait to get home to my kids and while they napped, I sat on the couch watching the TV and crying. My husband stopped to get gas in the car (the lines were long, price gouging had kicked in too) and we had a hard time singing "happy birthday" and eating cupcakes that night. It seemed inappropriate at the time but we also didn't want the bad guys to steal this happiness too.

[yzzilyzzid]

Not so much a reflection on the past, but looking forward with hope to the future - my son left for boot camp on 9/11/11:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yzzilyzzid/6137800956/

[Chelsea]

I can't believe it has been 10 years. I will never forget that day.
http://heartsandscars.blogspot.com/2011/09/10-years-ago.html

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[Judy]

I know that 9/11 has passed for this year, but like some others who commented - I don't usually talk a lot about my 9/11 experiences. My husband worked in Tower 1 of the World Trade Center, and was at work that morning. He called me at work, just after 8:45am, to say that "there was an explosion, or something. I'm evacuating, please check the news to see what's going on." Of course, he didn't know it then, but we all know what had happened. He worked on the 73rd floor and it took one and half hours to evacuate. When he had made it to the 4th floor, he, and the others in the stairway with him, were forced back up to the 25th floor by debris, dust, and smoke coming up the stairway at them. They didn't know it then, but that was when Tower 2 fell. He didn't think he was going to make it out alive since they had to go back up so many floors. He tried to call me at my work number to say our goodbyes. I had stepped away from my desk at that moment and he didn't leave a message. Now I am glad that I wasn't there to pick up the phone. The good news for us is that he did make it out, about one minute before his building fell. He arrived home hours later, still covered in the dust you all see on everyone on the news. He lost many friends and colleagues that day, and he always talks of the heroism of the firefighters going up into the building. To us, it still feels like it was just yesterday. There is still a lot of pain and sorrow to handle and work through. But we are lucky. We still have our family intact and we work to appreciate everything, every day, because none of us ever know what will happen at any moment. God Bless those who lost loved ones that tragic day, in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania.

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