Thursday, September 11, 2008

September 2001


Seven years ago. Like so many other Americans, I bought a flag. I hung it at the barn, where I would see it the most. Lyle was five months old and spending too much time by himself, since his mama was feeling so poorly. She would be gone two months later. Hank would come into my life three months later. Snapper was still a barn cat - he moved into the house that winter when I couldn't stand to see him standing on top of the snow drifts, staring at me through the living room window.

I can't remember what I did yesterday, but I remember everything that happened around September 2001.

14 comments:

  1. Yep. Count me in on that memory business. It certainly started us thinking of alternatives.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I remember too.

    Look at Lyle! He's all grown up now!

    ReplyDelete
  3. It is a day/days I will never forget.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I remember being at work and standing listening to the radio in disbelief. How horrific it was....

    It wasn't until the next couple of months that I would see how it would impact all the people around me...working for Boeing, it triggered a massive layoff and many would never return.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I remember as well. I need to buy a bigger flag.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Did you have your flag waving today, Rancher Woman?
    How are Lyle and Hank around waving flags?

    Right after 9/11, I bought one of those clingies for my van that memoralized the date and says "United We Stand". Many people took down their signs of support after a couple months back then.

    Me? I've never removed that clingie. For me it's a reminder of how fragile life can be and how very precious our freedoms really are.

    Not long after 9/11 the airlines went into a downward spiral (and are still spiraling down) and this affected our jobs with US Airways.

    Hubby and I had been furoughed a few times before, but the 9/11 furlough was an offer to retire.....permanently.

    We took the offer, and even the lifetime free flying benefits. But 9/11 scared me too much to consider flying anymore, and with the airline route cuts and airplane shortages it's next to impossible to jump on a plane with any seats available anymore.

    And quite honestly, with all the safety and security hoops we Americans have to jump through, tiny cramped seats, and lack of services on the planes...it's just a hassle and not fun to travel like it used to be.

    The long term reaches of 9/11 are still being felt. :(

    ~Lisa
    Laughing Orca Ranch
    New Mexico

    ReplyDelete
  7. Lisa,
    Hank and Lyle are flagproof as a result of 9/11. At the old place, I groomed them just to the right of the white feed room door in the picture, and that flag was always whipping around from our New Mexico wind. They learned to live with it pretty quickly.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I remember September 11, 2001, just like I remember where I was in November, 1963 and June, 1968. Those days are etched in my memory forever. Sad, but true.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Same here... we had a cat that disappeared the Saturday after the 11th. I told my son that he went to help the other cats in NY.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Isn't amazing how everyone you talk to, who is old enough to remember, can recall excatly what they were doing, and/or where they were?

    Look at Little Lyle! How cute was he? If I remeber right, you bought him as a buddy for The General? I will have to go back and read about that when I have time.

    Thanks for the lovely tribute, Linda!

    Melanie

    ReplyDelete
  11. I always breathe a sigh of relief when we safely get by another passing of 9/11. The remembering will never stop, but at least the sense of anxiety that I used to feel on the streets of New York City has dissipated over time.

    ReplyDelete
  12. As Melanie said, that was a really lovely tribute, Linda.

    I remember listening to the radio report in my car on the way to work that morning. I thought it was a joke, like the War of The Worlds in the 60's. It was too horrific to actually be happening. At the time, I worked for a university, and the tech crew there had big screen tv's set up all around the campus. People were walking around in a daze the entire day. It was certainly surreal.

    I'm Canadian, however, the ripple effect of that day still continues to be felt here, as well.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I remember and always will. I love the visual of Snapper standing on a snow drift looking at you. I could never have resisted either.

    ReplyDelete