That Fateful Day
Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2008 1:57 pm
I am curious of what everyone remembers about this day in 2001. Good memories or bad ones or a mix of them? How many can say that they remember this was the day they should have died?
A few know my story and I have been asked several times to relate it. So I will start it with a little back history.
My father was born on September seventh and my daughter on September nineth, the year is not important but for me this month is a mix of good and bad. On September fifth I received a panicked call from my mother as my father was being taken into the hospital. My family was gathered up and we started the 250 mile trip then and there. On the way up my sister called on the cell phone and told us he had passed peacefully in the hospital. He had been on dialysis for several years and never once complained and enjoyed his retired life even though he could do little more than sit at home, watch television and talk to his wife unless we could make the trip to visit. For his birthday we were in the funeral home as my mother insisted spending as much time as she could at his coffin. He was buried on my daughter’s birthday a short time later. My sister took my mother out on that fateful Monday to take care of the legalities of transferring things into her name alone with my daughter and son along for the ride and support. We were cleaning the house for my mother and the phone rang. It was my daughter and she asked if we knew or saw? That was when the first plane struck the tower. I remember turning on the television and watching just as the second plane made impact. It was surreal to say the least, and at first I though it was special effects or at least hoped so. It was not as everyone knows and it devastated everyone. That fateful day I was supposed to be on the forty-fifth floor of the south tower in an interview for a new job. I view it personally that my father’s last act on earth was the one that saved my life.
In closing my mother passed eleven month to the day and nearly the hour she lost her lifes mate. Today leaves me as an emotional mess, even after seven years.
A few know my story and I have been asked several times to relate it. So I will start it with a little back history.
My father was born on September seventh and my daughter on September nineth, the year is not important but for me this month is a mix of good and bad. On September fifth I received a panicked call from my mother as my father was being taken into the hospital. My family was gathered up and we started the 250 mile trip then and there. On the way up my sister called on the cell phone and told us he had passed peacefully in the hospital. He had been on dialysis for several years and never once complained and enjoyed his retired life even though he could do little more than sit at home, watch television and talk to his wife unless we could make the trip to visit. For his birthday we were in the funeral home as my mother insisted spending as much time as she could at his coffin. He was buried on my daughter’s birthday a short time later. My sister took my mother out on that fateful Monday to take care of the legalities of transferring things into her name alone with my daughter and son along for the ride and support. We were cleaning the house for my mother and the phone rang. It was my daughter and she asked if we knew or saw? That was when the first plane struck the tower. I remember turning on the television and watching just as the second plane made impact. It was surreal to say the least, and at first I though it was special effects or at least hoped so. It was not as everyone knows and it devastated everyone. That fateful day I was supposed to be on the forty-fifth floor of the south tower in an interview for a new job. I view it personally that my father’s last act on earth was the one that saved my life.
In closing my mother passed eleven month to the day and nearly the hour she lost her lifes mate. Today leaves me as an emotional mess, even after seven years.