9/11/01

I think it would be cool to know what my grandparents were doing when Pearl Harbor happened or my parents when man first walked on the moon, etc., so I wanted to tell my kids about our perspective of a national event that happened.

From Dad:
I was in the 3rd or 4th week of my mission, serving in Seaford, Delaware and that morning we received a phone call around 7 in the morning. We were told that New York had been attacked and that planes had crashed into the Twin Towers and not to tract today but spend time with members. I went out to the balcony to see if I could see the smoke. Silly me, it was 200 miles away. We went over to a family we had been working with, the Serranos and they had the TV on. I saw the second plane hit live on TV. To me, it was a very emotional day. I didn't know if they would start up the draft and I'd have to go home from the mission to serve in the military. The rest of the day was spent giving comfort to the people we served.

From Mom:
I arrived at the gym to see everyone standing around looking at the TVs. It didn't seem real and I didn't grasp the significance at first. I remember watching news coverage at home and then talking about it at my institute class. It was so unbelievable that I had a hard time believing it until I saw the image replayed over and over on the screen and hearing the reports and seeing people jumping out of the building. It still brings me to tears to know of all the lives that were lost including some who were there to rescue others.

This year, on the 11th anniversary, I drove down the road to take Ryan to joyschool and there was a man standing on the side of the highway waving a flag. It was such a simple thing, but he was remembering and helping others to remember. It brought tears to my eyes as I thought about all of the families affected. It also helped me to remember how united our country was after the attacks and how I wish we were still as united now, especially during an election year.