Below is my individual recount of September 11th, 2001 intertwined with the official timeline of the terrorist attack.
5:45 AM – Mohamed Atta and Abdul Aziz al-Omari, two of the intended hijackers, pass through security at the Portland International Jetport in Maine. They board a commuter flight to Boston Logan International Airport, they then board American Airlines Flight 11.
(9 year old me hangs my feet over the side of the bed before committing to standing. It’s almost been a month since my mother’s disappearance act. The bus will be here in 30 minutes so I have to start my day)
8:46 AM – Flight 11 crashes into the World Trade Center’s North Tower. All passengers aboard are instantly killed, and employees of the WTC are trapped above the 91st floor.
(The breakfast bell just rung. I didn’t eat. Don’t have much of an appetite these days. Everything I eat sinks to the bottom of my stomach but never seems to fill the void spreading at the pit. I sat down in my assigned seat and labeled some loose leaf paper for the daily DOM and DOL. Both are a daily dose of a constant pain in my ass)
9:05 AM – President George W. Bush, in an elementary school classroom in Florida, is informed about the hit on the second tower. His chief of staff, Andrew Card, whispers the chilling news into the president’s ear. Bush later wrote about his response: “I made the decision not to jump up immediately and leave the classroom. I didn’t want to rattle the kids. I wanted to project a sense of calm… I had been in enough crises to know that the first thing the leader has to do is to project calm.” (Miller Center)
(All the adults are whispering. They’re congregating in the doorways and whispering. We haven’t even formally started class yet. I take this time to write an to-do list. 1. Make my mother a birthday card)
9:59 AM – The South Tower of the World Trade Center collapses.
(They’re turning the T.Vs on. Not the ones on the cart but the one mounted on the wall in the corner of the room. I hope this doesn’t delay class start. I hope we don’t have class today. I can zone out if we watch T.V. I can forget things for awhile)
10:28 AM – The North Tower of the World Trade Center collapses.
(The news is on. There are two buildings in New York that are on fire. It’s a lot of smoke. We don’t have buildings that big here but I imagine it’s a lot of smoke. People are jumping out of windows. I want to cry. Everyone is really quiet. I wonder how my dad’s first flight is going)
12:15 PM – Airspace in the United States is completely free of all commercial and private flights.
(I got a call from the office. My aunt is here to pick me up. We haven’t had lunch yet. It’s a 30 minute drive from here to home. She hates making the drive.)
2:30 PM – Rudy Giuliani, the mayor of New York City, visits the fallen Twin Towers of the World Trade Center at what becomes known as Ground Zero.
(Max called – my dad’s wife. She told my cousin he was on a flight that planned to go through New York. Where the buildings were burning. No one can locate him yet. She’ll call when she knows more. The ride home was mostly quiet. I try not to think about if I’m an orphan. And if both of my parents are gone does that mean they’ll make me move away? Shit – I forgot to make a birthday card)
8:30 PM – President Bush addresses the nation.
(She called back. His flight was able to ground in New York. He would rent a car to drive the rest of the way to Seattle, Washington. Even my mother called. I still don’t know where she is but she called. She said this was the worst birthday ever. Not because we aren’t together but because her birthday will forever be overshadowed by the terrorist attack. It’s 30 minutes before my bedtime. I’m ready to go to bed so I can seek refuge in sleep. Never got around to that birthday card. Don’t have an address to send it to anyway. The buildings have been on the T.V all day. It feels like everything is changing. It’s felt like that for awhile now. I think of all the kids today who became orphans. My heart goes out to them and the void growing deep inside them that will never be filled again.)
Works Cited: Huiskes, Katherine. “Timeline: The September 11 terrorist attacks” UVA Miller Center, Unknown Date, https://millercenter.org/remembering-september-11/september-11-terrorist-attacks
Dedication: To everyone who grieves in September
