I Remember

In September of 2007, I took a few days off of work.  I was going to stay home with my three younger children while my wife, Nancy and our oldest daughter went out of town together.  The three days happened to be the 10th, 11th and 12th.

On the morning of September 11, 2007, still in my pajamas, I went out to the garage to pull out the flag.  I slowly unrolled it from around the pole and put it out for the day.  As I came back into the house I thought, "Six years today." 

With that single thought, the flood gate of memory was torn completely away.  Vivid thoughts of that morning rushed through my mind.  Intense feelings of fear and surprise soon gave way to the familiar anger, pain, sorrow and frustration I had felt then.  The overwhelming immensity of the whole thing, the rush of Patriotic Pride, the freshly minted brotherhood of a nation, and the frustration of a strong political stalemate.  Each emotion came, one after another as the pounding waves of memory washed over me.

Back in the house my children played together in the next room while I sat for few minutes and remembered.


My mom can tell you exactly what she was doing on the day she heard JFK had been shot.  She was a Junior in High School.  She can remember in full color detail what she was wearing, what class she was in, who was there with her.

Her own mother remembers a December afternoon in 1941 with the same clarity and vividness. 

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was at home in the backyard.  It was a Tuesday.  I had gotten up early to work on a playhouse for my children, a project that had consumed my evenings and mornings all summer.  The radio was on.

One of the strongest memories I have is of listening to the details of the morning unfold on the radio.  The first tower had been hit, then the second.  The Pentagon was next.  Then there was an airplane accident in Pennsylvania.  No one would say they were connected events, but it was so obvious that it made me angry.  The speculation, the bad information, the contradictory statements, the confusion.  It all made me more and more angry.  Finally, in a moment of childlike frustration, I yelled at the radio.  I wanted them to just shut up.  "Stop it," I yelled.  "Shut up!  Just shut up."

I kept wondering what was next.  How big was the attack?  How soon until the attacks covered the country?

Fighter jets kept flying over my normally quiet neighborhood and every time I would think, "Here we go."  It seems silly to me now, but I really thought the first four crashes, in fairly rapid succession, were just the beginning.  I thought the attacks would reach every major city and eventually even this small, out-of-the-way, city would be hit.

Of course this was not to be.  And I was naive to think such a huge nation-wide plan could be pulled off.

Naive.  A fitting word that perfectly described our beloved nation before that morning.  We had no idea of what was out there.  We thought we were untouchable - no, we were untouchable.  Who could hurt America?  And more than that, why would they want to?  But who cares if they want to hurt us, we thought, they can't touch us.  This is America.


I think it's good to remember these things.  I think as a nation we are forgetting too much too soon.  I think we need to talk about it more.  We need to feel it again.  We need to remember anew the pain and the pride and the anger and the unity we felt then.

So that morning, six years after September 11, home from work for a day with my children, outside of the rush of a typical week day, I sat, I remembered and I wrote.  I sent my thoughts to a few friends and, within an hour, many had responded with their own memories.  By the end of the day I had a good collection of memories from friends and acquaintances across the nation.

Since then I have asked many more to share their memories of that morning, that day, that month of September 2001.  Something about me asking them to share their ideas has opened that same flood gate for many other people.  Americans want to remember September 11, 2001.  And they want to share those memories with anyone who will listen. 

How about you? What are your strongest memories of September 11?  If you care to share, I would love to hear your thoughts and memories.  Please click the link to find a place to share your story.  Remembering September 11.

Clark