Posted by
James Bell on Monday, September 11, 2006 4:12:00 PM
On
September 11, 2001, it was a beautiful and bright day in Cleveland,
Ohio. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and this kind of day usually put
me in a upbeat mood, but this day, I had this awful feeling that
something was looming. I couldn't figure it out or shake the feeling.
It was 7:00 am.
I usually go to the metro park to spend time in
prayer and Bible study, near the Cleveland suburb of Parma. I remember
praying before I even got there because I was feeling almost afraid. I
didn't know if I thought something was going to happen to me or a loved
one.
I was driving down Ridge Rd. listening to morning radio talk
shows and on some of these, there is a lot of humor and sarcasm. The
person on the radio around 8:55 am came on and stated that a plane or
something had hit one of the towers of the World Trade Center. He had
said this in a tone that didn't strike me as urgent but almost
amazingly in a matter-of-fact manner. I was appalled, thinking, where
do thess people draw the lines in their attempts to be funny or
amusing? I didn't realize this was truly happening. I turned the radio
off.
Around 9:10 am , I turned the radio back on, a mile from my
destination. On another radio station, the announcement came that
another plane has hit the other World Trade Center Tower. I stopped and
noticed that everyone in the surrounding automobiles were on cell
phones, I mean everyone.
I thought about how I had taken my mother a
couple of months ago to New York and we went to the top of one of the Towers. It
was her first time and my second time. I skipped the park and went to a
nearby friends and marched to the television where he my buddy was
already tuned into CNN. He said America is under attack!
I can
never fully describe the emotions and disbelief I felt as everything
unfolded, the Pentagon was hit, no time to take in earlier events. I
was dizzy and developed a horrible headache. It suddently hit me, my
God was this what I felt coming this morning? I went on to pray telling
God that I knew there were a lot of terrified people out there, some
probably already dead and these people needed Him today more than they
ever have. America needed Him more than it ever has. Don't abandon us
in our time of need, I thought. My faith with feelings of helplessness
set in as my friend and I wondered how much more was to come.
Later,
I called my mother to tell her how much I loved her and she was in
shock unable to grasp, that her and I were atop one of those towers
that were, by that time, no more but collapsed tons of rubble. Tears
came to my eyes as I told her, Mom, if we were there today, at least we
would have been together right up to the end.
Today, I called a friend of mine that I have known since high school. She is a guidance counselor now but was a teacher of mine in eleventh grade and we have ben friends ever since. I remembered talking with her on 9/11, she was concerned for her son who was attending college in New York and lived not far from the World Trade Center. She heard from her son later and he was fine. I just wanted to thank her for what has amounted to almost a life time of support.
Today, I went to a local fire house and shook the same hands of the fire fighters I shook the week of 9/11/01. This is an annual event now. I thank them for what they do and that I will never forget.
God Bless America!
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