Memories of September 11th
I'll never forget it.I'd just dropped my daughters off at their daycare center in Spartanburg, where I worked as the producer of WSPA's 5:00 and 5:30 evening newscasts. I was listening to the local news-talk radio station on my way to work, when the host of the morning show mentioned that a plane, that he believed to be private, had crashed into one of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City.
Like every other American who first heard the news - I thought it must have been an accident, and hoped that somehow, no one had been killed.
I arrived at the station to see every monitor in the newsroom tuned in to the network coverage. It wasn't five minutes later when I, along with everyone watching, witnessed the second plane plunge into the second tower. I said out loud, "its terrorists." And in that instance, my view of the world changed forever.
I thought first about the people on board the planes - how terrified they must have been. My thoughts then turned to my own children, and I wondered what kind of world would they grow up in now?
I spent the rest of the day producing live, local coverage of the story in our control room. Various live shots at our local airport, blood banks, etc. It seemed so surreal. I stayed at the station until well after 2:00 a.m., helping other producers with their shows, and watching the network coverage.
When I got home, I went into my kids' rooms, kissed them each on the head and whispered into their ears that I loved them with all of my heart, and that their daddy would do everything he could to keep them safe, always.
I then went to my own room, and woke up my wife, who had fallen asleep with the TV on, tuned to CNN. After talking about how the events had impacted our day, we shared stories of what we'd heard and how we were feeling.
We then said a short prayer together, and kissed each other good night.
Our world had changed.
What are your memories of that day?
Posted by
on 09/11 at 11:27 AM
