Did you know that all over America there are 9/11 memorials and monuments that individuals have dedicated themselves to constructing with their own resources and love? Voices and memories can never be silenced!
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| The Danny Crisman 9/11 Memorial, South Montrose, PA |
In July I had the privilege of visiting a site created in the foothills of northeastern PA, by a mother who's 25-year-old son, Danny Crisman, was killed in tower one of the WTC. You might find yourself driving along this same rather plain country road someday, too. You'll wonder at the dedicated lawn mowing of these empty acres--is it a golf course? But when you see the flags and the granite and bronze monuments, you realize something far more important commemorates this site. It's a sacred and beautifully stunning tribute. I can't come up with the words to express how it felt being there. Voices of 9/11 is a wonderful website where you may find similar monuments in your locale. I urge you to visit and explore. Pray for the surviving families, and please pray for peace.
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| 9/11 widow, Jennifer Sands, takes a picture of her husband's name. Mrs. Crisman stands next to her. |
My husband and I were in a little village in Switzerland. The name is Kandersteg. It is in the Alps, at the end of the highway. From there you can only hike; there is no road that goes further. It is an incredibly beautiful place, and probably the safest place in the world! It was a very cold and rainy fall and we had not taken warm enough jackets with us, so we were in a small shop looking for some warmer ones to buy, as we were just getting started on our trip that year. As we chatted with the young girl who was working in the shop, she found out we were from the USA. She said, "You can't go home". At first we thought she was just saying that we should stay there in her little Swiss village, because it was such a wonderful place to be. Then she told us about the planes hitting the twin towers. She had a small TV in the shop and we saw there that she was right. We were in such shock. We bought our warm jackets and headed back to our hotel where I spent the rest of the day and into the night sitting in the TV room watching the horrifying coverage of the attacks with a room full of strangers - and it was all in German, but the pictures were all too understandable. My husband and I continued on with our trip, but cut it short by about a week and came home. Our youngest daughter was supposed to fly out to meet us two days after 9/11, but, of course was not able to do so, and never did make the trip. --Joy B.
ReplyDeleteGoing to Cleveland with friends to see the Science Center, listening to gospel cassettes , had no clue what was happening. Saw many sailors rushing to their boats as we were leaving the area and prayed for my daughters safety in classes at ...Kent, Ash. Br. We saw the reports on tv at University Hos. as so many people cancelled appts. I got in to see my Dr. and then drove home in silent prayer for our country. Went to a special prayer meeting that night at Church. --Carol L.
ReplyDeleteI was hanging out laundry when my brother called from IN, and my children brought the phone out to me!!! And I realized that we lived in the middle of all that horror that was taking place - 2 hours to the north, south and west of us here in Eastern PA! Unbelievable! --Sheri N.
ReplyDeleteOh, my! and one thing I must add to mine... I was 9 mo pregnant for my 10th, and last child! - she was born 11 days after 9-11 in 01! We named her Grace - because we felt like we were all going to need God's Grace! She will be 10 now, and while it has been so hard having children so young, she was 8 the year Daddy was sick - she is a source of love and blessing, true grace from the Lord! --Sheri
ReplyDeleteSeptember 11 was the first day of our women's Bible studies at church and it was my first time leading a group. Because of anticipation of leading a group, I did not turn the TV on like I usually did in the morning. I dropped my my daugh...ter off at school and headed to church. I poked my head in to my friend's office to say Hi. She was crying. At first I though something awful happened to someone at church, but then I saw that she had a little black and white TV and was watching the footage of the planes hitting the towers. It was so surreal. We were able to pray as a group and I stayed through the morning, but I just wanted to be with my daughter. This was the second time her school was on lockdown after a major event. The first time was the shootings at Columbine, which is in our school district. It still breaks my heart that these events are a part of her childhood experience. --Leslie
ReplyDeleteI was living in Maine during 9/11. My son was about 16 months old and I was a few month pregnant with my daughter. I still remember what I was wearing. That's how burned in my brain that day was. My husband was at work and I had The Today Show playing in the living room. I stepped into the kitchen for a few minutes and when I returned I saw smoke billowing from the first tower to be hit. I thought they were playing old footage of the bombing in the Twin Towers from 1993 (I believe it was). I'm from NY and I flew home for a weekend from college the day the towers were bombed. I remember circling over NY because our plane couldn't land. We saw the craziness going on down below. That's why I automatically assumed it was old footage, until I sat and watched. After the second tower was hit, I panicked a little and started calling my family. They were all in NY. My friend from high school is a police officer and she was working when it happened. She suffers so many health problems now. My husband had a friend working in Tower 2. A man in our church was a firefighter in NYC. He was the only man in his group that came out alive. It's not been easy for him at all. He suffered so much guilt for living while everyone else died.
ReplyDeleteFor a long time afterward my son would draw pictures of buildings with planes flying into them. I don't know how you could forget a day like that.
~FringeGirl