Comments on: Remembering http://kristenrudd.com/blog/2009/09/11/remembering/ kristenrudd.com Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:00:16 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 hourly 1 By: sj http://kristenrudd.com/blog/2009/09/11/remembering/comment-page-1/#comment-11081 sj Fri, 11 Sep 2009 23:00:36 +0000 http://kristenrudd.com/blog/?p=1060#comment-11081 I was bursting pregnant with Jiri - ready to drop any nanosecond. I sat on the floor and held Eva and cried and cried that I was about to bring a baby into this world. He was born the 16th. To this day I wonder about the hormones and fear I pumped him full of right before he was born. I was bursting pregnant with Jiri - ready to drop any nanosecond. I sat on the floor and held Eva and cried and cried that I was about to bring a baby into this world. He was born the 16th. To this day I wonder about the hormones and fear I pumped him full of right before he was born.

]]> By: lauren ahkiam http://kristenrudd.com/blog/2009/09/11/remembering/comment-page-1/#comment-11077 lauren ahkiam Fri, 11 Sep 2009 20:10:21 +0000 http://kristenrudd.com/blog/?p=1060#comment-11077 It was a few weeks into my freshman year of college, and I found out in an 8am class when a professor, trying to be casual, said that there were some attacks in New York and we could leave on our cell phones and leave class if we needed, but continued with the class. Mark Thames called soon after and told me what was going on, which was the beginning of a week's worth of bawling and freaking out and studiously avoiding television coverage because my roommate and I had no ability to process seeing what had happened. It was too much to know. The positive things that surfaced afterward were a sense of solidarity and community for at least a few months among the more thoughtful and political students at our school who were concerned the immediate reaction would be more violence, but this time from the state. In one way or another, through this coming together I met Danny and all but one of my best friends from college (one I met through random chance in another country). It was a few weeks into my freshman year of college, and I found out in an 8am class when a professor, trying to be casual, said that there were some attacks in New York and we could leave on our cell phones and leave class if we needed, but continued with the class. Mark Thames called soon after and told me what was going on, which was the beginning of a week’s worth of bawling and freaking out and studiously avoiding television coverage because my roommate and I had no ability to process seeing what had happened. It was too much to know.

The positive things that surfaced afterward were a sense of solidarity and community for at least a few months among the more thoughtful and political students at our school who were concerned the immediate reaction would be more violence, but this time from the state. In one way or another, through this coming together I met Danny and all but one of my best friends from college (one I met through random chance in another country).

]]> By: Leigh Ann http://kristenrudd.com/blog/2009/09/11/remembering/comment-page-1/#comment-11074 Leigh Ann Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:59:18 +0000 http://kristenrudd.com/blog/?p=1060#comment-11074 I was in college at SWT about to graduate with the possibility of a great job in Washington state as a marine biologist. My clock radio went off and I heard the DJ say "I cannot believe this is happening. If you haven't turned on your TV yet, do it now. Oh my God, another one!" I leapt out of bed and turned on my TV. I saw the two towers burning and smoke filled the air. Then they reporter said that an airplane had hit one of the towers. I was confused because both towers were burning and then in a small screen at the bottom of the TV they showed what looked like a building burning. It was labeled "The Pentagon." Then they replayed the second plane hitting the 2nd tower. I then knew that this was intentional. My mind then replayed the image of Bin Laden in a 1998 recording. I felt a sense of fear back then. It freaked me out. I saw the camera zoom in on people hanging out of windows waving for help. I knew that these people were going to die. They were above the smoke. Then a man wearing a pair of black slacks, a white button down shirt and a blue tie with glasses looked left, then right... and then help leapt out. The camera then zoomed out quickly. I remember yelling "Oh my God!" My roommate came back in from her morning shower and we watched it all unfold. I called my mom at work and asked her if she had heard. She had and was asking me details. Just then, one of the towers began to erupt in even more smoke. Within a second the tower began to shrink slowly at first and then faster and faster. I thought I was imagining things, but it was collapsing and I remember screaming. My mom yelled "What? What?" I told her what had happened and apparently her coworkers were in her office because she repeated it to them. I went to my morning class and my professor came in and said that she couldn't hold class because she herself didn't know where a loved one of hers was. Her husband came in and announced that there was another plane unaccounted for and was not repsonding to the control tower. And all planes were to land at once. He also said that the other tower had also collapsed. Tears welled up in my eyes because I had never known a world where there was so much terror and so many unknowns. I thought to myself that they would probably shoot this plane down if it wouldn't respond... where was it going? I went back to my room and stopped as I opened the door to my building. Everyone was in the lobby watching the news on TV. I dropped my bag and saw that the plane had crashed... this one in a field. SWT held a memorial that evening in the quad area. Our president spoke and a group sang God Bless America. Little did I know how many people were there till I saw it on the school's website. It must have been atleast a thousand people. We all came together to pray, to hope and to support eachother. As the days went on I watched the news and hoped that there would be more surviviors. One, maybe two would appear. Signs started going up with people's pictures on them. "Missing Female" or "Have you seen..." It was so disturbing that these people would not find their loved ones... nothing. Not a shoe, not a piece of jewelry or anything. You remember where you were, who you were with, even what you were doing. You remember details like you woudn't ever imagine. Like the man who leapt from the building. He was probably someone's husband or maybe someone's father. I have never watched someone die before. Within seconds, he was dead. I went up to Austin for a few days and went for a walk at UT. Suddenly a deafening roar filled the air above me. I felt myself gasp and duck. I then looked up along with several other people that were on the ground. An F-16 jet was right over us. Didn't hear it coming. Scared the crap out of me and everyone around me. My mind raced. Is it happening again? Are they patrolling the skies? What's going on? Jets from San Antonio AFB were patrolling the hill country. They did this for several days. I graduated at December. This 1st graduating class from SWT after 9/11. The job I had lined up disappeared because funding was immediately cut from the government. I was graduating college with no job lined up. I knew that this would be a trying time for America and myself. We all remember where we were when Challenger exploded or when Princess Diana died. My grandmother remembers clear as day where she was when Pearl Harbor was attacked. She and my grandfather were laying on their bed listening to the radio hearing the awful details unfold. As they listened they both knew that my grandfather would be called overseas. My parents remember where they were when Kennedy was shot. My mom said that she was driving to work and had to pull over she was so in shock. She even remembered what she was wearing that day. My husband has his story. My parents and grandmother have their stories to add to their memory. My friends have theirs. Our children will ask about where we were when we were attacked September 11, 2001 just as we asked our grandparents about Pearl Harbor and our parents about Kennedy. I pray a lot for my country more now than I ever have. I hate to say that it took this event to make me start, but my prayers are for peace. I am angry at those who laugh at our heartbreak, but I am a firm believer in Karma and those who do evil to others will get their's in the end. I was in college at SWT about to graduate with the possibility of a great job in Washington state as a marine biologist. My clock radio went off and I heard the DJ say “I cannot believe this is happening. If you haven’t turned on your TV yet, do it now. Oh my God, another one!” I leapt out of bed and turned on my TV. I saw the two towers burning and smoke filled the air. Then they reporter said that an airplane had hit one of the towers. I was confused because both towers were burning and then in a small screen at the bottom of the TV they showed what looked like a building burning. It was labeled “The Pentagon.” Then they replayed the second plane hitting the 2nd tower. I then knew that this was intentional. My mind then replayed the image of Bin Laden in a 1998 recording. I felt a sense of fear back then. It freaked me out.
I saw the camera zoom in on people hanging out of windows waving for help. I knew that these people were going to die. They were above the smoke. Then a man wearing a pair of black slacks, a white button down shirt and a blue tie with glasses looked left, then right… and then help leapt out. The camera then zoomed out quickly. I remember yelling “Oh my God!” My roommate came back in from her morning shower and we watched it all unfold.
I called my mom at work and asked her if she had heard. She had and was asking me details. Just then, one of the towers began to erupt in even more smoke. Within a second the tower began to shrink slowly at first and then faster and faster. I thought I was imagining things, but it was collapsing and I remember screaming. My mom yelled “What? What?” I told her what had happened and apparently her coworkers were in her office because she repeated it to them.
I went to my morning class and my professor came in and said that she couldn’t hold class because she herself didn’t know where a loved one of hers was. Her husband came in and announced that there was another plane unaccounted for and was not repsonding to the control tower. And all planes were to land at once. He also said that the other tower had also collapsed.
Tears welled up in my eyes because I had never known a world where there was so much terror and so many unknowns. I thought to myself that they would probably shoot this plane down if it wouldn’t respond… where was it going?
I went back to my room and stopped as I opened the door to my building. Everyone was in the lobby watching the news on TV. I dropped my bag and saw that the plane had crashed… this one in a field.
SWT held a memorial that evening in the quad area. Our president spoke and a group sang God Bless America. Little did I know how many people were there till I saw it on the school’s website. It must have been atleast a thousand people. We all came together to pray, to hope and to support eachother.
As the days went on I watched the news and hoped that there would be more surviviors. One, maybe two would appear. Signs started going up with people’s pictures on them. “Missing Female” or “Have you seen…” It was so disturbing that these people would not find their loved ones… nothing. Not a shoe, not a piece of jewelry or anything.
You remember where you were, who you were with, even what you were doing. You remember details like you woudn’t ever imagine. Like the man who leapt from the building. He was probably someone’s husband or maybe someone’s father. I have never watched someone die before. Within seconds, he was dead.
I went up to Austin for a few days and went for a walk at UT. Suddenly a deafening roar filled the air above me. I felt myself gasp and duck. I then looked up along with several other people that were on the ground. An F-16 jet was right over us. Didn’t hear it coming. Scared the crap out of me and everyone around me. My mind raced. Is it happening again? Are they patrolling the skies? What’s going on? Jets from San Antonio AFB were patrolling the hill country. They did this for several days.
I graduated at December. This 1st graduating class from SWT after 9/11. The job I had lined up disappeared because funding was immediately cut from the government. I was graduating college with no job lined up. I knew that this would be a trying time for America and myself.
We all remember where we were when Challenger exploded or when Princess Diana died. My grandmother remembers clear as day where she was when Pearl Harbor was attacked. She and my grandfather were laying on their bed listening to the radio hearing the awful details unfold. As they listened they both knew that my grandfather would be called overseas. My parents remember where they were when Kennedy was shot. My mom said that she was driving to work and had to pull over she was so in shock. She even remembered what she was wearing that day.
My husband has his story. My parents and grandmother have their stories to add to their memory. My friends have theirs.
Our children will ask about where we were when we were attacked September 11, 2001 just as we asked our grandparents about Pearl Harbor and our parents about Kennedy.
I pray a lot for my country more now than I ever have. I hate to say that it took this event to make me start, but my prayers are for peace. I am angry at those who laugh at our heartbreak, but I am a firm believer in Karma and those who do evil to others will get their’s in the end.

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