The course of my life was forever changed...
When 9/11 happened, things were a blur for me, as I know it was for so many others. I remember waking up to what I expected to be a normal morning. I don't remember if I had gotten ready first or if I was in the process of getting ready when my roommate turned on the TV (or perhaps I was the one who turned on the TV). What we watched was The Today Show. I remember the chaos of the first tower burning. I think at this point, we assumed some pilot lost consciousness or something and this was all a really horrific accident. Then we saw the second plane hit the second tower. This was the point where we realized this was not accidental. This was purposeful.
I remember going to class that day dazed. If I remember my class schedule well enough, my first professor believed that what he had to say was far more important than what was going on in the news. No, this wasn't just my interpretation; I'm certain he said something to the effect of "Well, life must go on." I'm also certain that none of us really paid attention that morning in Experimental Psych. My afternoon course was taught by a much more sensitive professor who told us that he was going to give us a quick 5-10 minute review and then he wanted us to go and find out what was going on in our world. He was a Pastor and I'm pretty sure that he would have lead us in prayer if he could have (at a State school, I'm not sure he could have...).
I went to my friend's on-campus apartment after that class. We watched some news and talked to our families. Her father warned that gas prices may spike significantly so we went and fueled up our cars at the gas station closest to campus. So was everyone else.
I remember talking to my mom that night. My brother was in boot camp for the USAF. He was on lock-down but I think had had the opportunity to get word out that he was okay. She worried that he would be sent off to war immediately. I was, too, but kept telling her they wouldn't since he wasn't trained quite yet. She was skeptical. I didn't want to be skeptical.
Beyond this, it seems silly to say that my life was directly impacted. Sure, we all worried about what the next attack might be. Would it be in Oklahoma? Would it be where our loved ones were? But, the truth of it was I was in a small town in Oklahoma, so it was unlikely we'd be the direct target. I wasn't in NYC or D.C.
Fast-forward a year and a half to January 2003. I go to Oklahoma City to have a night out with my best friend (Hey Shyla!!) and end up meeting a bunch of military guys since she was dating a USAF officer at the time. Here's the part where my life changes. I met a great guy and ended up talking with him 'til 4 in the morning. He asked for my number and said he'd call mid-week to set up another date (after begging me to just crash out at his place with a few others who had crashed out at his place...Uh...no! :)) To my surprise, he actually called.
This guy? Yeah, he's now my husband. And for the first three years of our marriage, he was deployed to Iraq three times. In our six years of marriage, he's been deployed four times (in the first five years). And he has another deployment upcoming sooner than I want to think about.
9/11 set into motion events that allowed this to happen. He was divorced from his first wife several months after 9/11 and though their marriage was likely headed this way anyway, I think that this was the so-called "straw that broke the camel's back". Also, I think we both assumed that once we started dating just a month or so before he was to deploy for the "kick off" of Iraqi Freedom, we weren't in this for the long-haul; we both kinda figured we'd email back and forth but neither wanted a serious relationship (his divorce, my really bad break-up).
I have learned a lot about myself and this country in the years since 9/11. I've learned this country is much stronger when we work together. I've read several stories over the past several days about how united we all were after 9/11 and I remember that. I remember how awesome it felt to live in this country right after 9/11 because we all sort of had the "stand together" attitude. I've learned that I'm a much stronger person than I ever credited myself with before. My strength continues to be tested with every TDY and deployement, especially with the upcoming deployment, my first with children. My story is not all that unique. There are hundreds of thousands of other people who have similar stories, those who send their loved one off to war to fight the terrorists and work to stabilize an incredibly unstable region.
I'm anxious to visit the 9/11 Memorial once it's completely finished in 2015. I want to take my girls there, though they'll be young. 9/11 changed the course of mine and Shawn's lives forever, whether we had found each other or not, it still would have changed both our lives. And 9/11 will impact my daughter's lives, too, through, among other things, their father being gone for deployments and TDYs in preparation for deployments.
I will never forget the ways in which 9/11 has impacted my life, not just that September morning but in all the mornings since.
I remember going to class that day dazed. If I remember my class schedule well enough, my first professor believed that what he had to say was far more important than what was going on in the news. No, this wasn't just my interpretation; I'm certain he said something to the effect of "Well, life must go on." I'm also certain that none of us really paid attention that morning in Experimental Psych. My afternoon course was taught by a much more sensitive professor who told us that he was going to give us a quick 5-10 minute review and then he wanted us to go and find out what was going on in our world. He was a Pastor and I'm pretty sure that he would have lead us in prayer if he could have (at a State school, I'm not sure he could have...).
I went to my friend's on-campus apartment after that class. We watched some news and talked to our families. Her father warned that gas prices may spike significantly so we went and fueled up our cars at the gas station closest to campus. So was everyone else.
I remember talking to my mom that night. My brother was in boot camp for the USAF. He was on lock-down but I think had had the opportunity to get word out that he was okay. She worried that he would be sent off to war immediately. I was, too, but kept telling her they wouldn't since he wasn't trained quite yet. She was skeptical. I didn't want to be skeptical.
Beyond this, it seems silly to say that my life was directly impacted. Sure, we all worried about what the next attack might be. Would it be in Oklahoma? Would it be where our loved ones were? But, the truth of it was I was in a small town in Oklahoma, so it was unlikely we'd be the direct target. I wasn't in NYC or D.C.
Fast-forward a year and a half to January 2003. I go to Oklahoma City to have a night out with my best friend (Hey Shyla!!) and end up meeting a bunch of military guys since she was dating a USAF officer at the time. Here's the part where my life changes. I met a great guy and ended up talking with him 'til 4 in the morning. He asked for my number and said he'd call mid-week to set up another date (after begging me to just crash out at his place with a few others who had crashed out at his place...Uh...no! :)) To my surprise, he actually called.
This guy? Yeah, he's now my husband. And for the first three years of our marriage, he was deployed to Iraq three times. In our six years of marriage, he's been deployed four times (in the first five years). And he has another deployment upcoming sooner than I want to think about.
9/11 set into motion events that allowed this to happen. He was divorced from his first wife several months after 9/11 and though their marriage was likely headed this way anyway, I think that this was the so-called "straw that broke the camel's back". Also, I think we both assumed that once we started dating just a month or so before he was to deploy for the "kick off" of Iraqi Freedom, we weren't in this for the long-haul; we both kinda figured we'd email back and forth but neither wanted a serious relationship (his divorce, my really bad break-up).
I have learned a lot about myself and this country in the years since 9/11. I've learned this country is much stronger when we work together. I've read several stories over the past several days about how united we all were after 9/11 and I remember that. I remember how awesome it felt to live in this country right after 9/11 because we all sort of had the "stand together" attitude. I've learned that I'm a much stronger person than I ever credited myself with before. My strength continues to be tested with every TDY and deployement, especially with the upcoming deployment, my first with children. My story is not all that unique. There are hundreds of thousands of other people who have similar stories, those who send their loved one off to war to fight the terrorists and work to stabilize an incredibly unstable region.
I'm anxious to visit the 9/11 Memorial once it's completely finished in 2015. I want to take my girls there, though they'll be young. 9/11 changed the course of mine and Shawn's lives forever, whether we had found each other or not, it still would have changed both our lives. And 9/11 will impact my daughter's lives, too, through, among other things, their father being gone for deployments and TDYs in preparation for deployments.
I will never forget the ways in which 9/11 has impacted my life, not just that September morning but in all the mornings since.
posted by Amanda at
22:39
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