blogger profile

MerryGlenne

I'm the editor of skirt! in Augusta, GA/Aiken, SC

I'm a bargain shopper, a hippie, my own worst critic, honest to a fault, and always on a diet. I'm most happy at home with my new hubby and, the other love of my life, my six-year-old long-haired dauchshund Divot. ...

READ MORE

Remembering...

On September 11, 2001, my morning routine was interrupted by a frantic call from home. I was just beginning my senior year at UGA and living in an antebellum house in downtown Athens with six of my best girl friends.

As we all shook off wicked  hangovers (we had a wild one the night prior), jumped in the shower, and put on t-shirts for class, calls from our concerned parents had us all in a tissy.

We were impatiently awaiting our satellite television service to be installed, so we were unable to watch the disasters unfold on tv. So, we gathered in the old stairwell and tuned into radio coverage. Only hearing about the situation, and not seeing it, enhanced the inherent confusion and our worry. Did the plane explode? Did another hit the Pentagon? Was this a terrorist attack?

Not fully comprehending the situation, I walked to class as most students walked away from campus. Walking there felt like going the wrong way down a one way street or the opposite direction on an escalator. I got an ear-full as students passed me by.

Most classes were cancelled. My Political Science of North Korea, South Korea, China, Japan, and Taiwan class was optional. I stayed. My professor, an ambassador to North and South Korea, provided amazing insight into the situation as he was very familiar with managing conflicts. After class, I felt somewhat enlightened as I walked to the student center to watch coverage.

What I remember most about September 11th is how, for the first time ever, I felt unsafe in my own country. I had so many questions unanswered. I was concerned not only for all the  lives lost in the day’s tragedies, but also for what life would be like in the years to follow. Where would the next attack be? Was the plane I heard overhead hijacked? How would I escape? Where would I go?

Clearly, my 9/11 experience in no way resembles that of many Americans. And for that I am so very grateful. On this day I am reminded of the husbands who never made it home from work, the mothers who never picked their kids up from day-care, and all the lives lost (on that day and since).

Please take time today to remember 9/11 and respond to my blog if you’d like to share your memories of that horrible day. God Bless America!