Never Can Forget

I think everybody and their momma got a 9/11 story. Understandably so, because that day earth stood still. Man, where in the world do I began at in my story.

Ok, I remember waking up to a BEAUTIFUL morning. The sky was extra clear. And the day had a freshness to it. At the time, I was living about five minutes from my mother and so she’d asked me the night before if I could pick her up that morning cause she had an early meeting downtown. My norm then was to drive to the metro which was just a few minutes from my house. And so since I had to pick up my mother who was just three minutes out the way, I didn’t feel the need to adjust my schedule.

That morning, after picking up my mother we got to the metro and found that the parking garage was full. That was definitely out of the norm. Cause the garage was NEVER full. But it was a beautiful day and so normal drivers probably decided to enjoy the metro ride instead of driving in. I was pissed. And probably cussed and fussed since I was still in my backslidden state—lol. Soooo, I had to drive to work. All the way downtown. Which would’ve cost me $13 to park in my office’s garage.

Traffic on the way downtown was smooth. In fact, it was so smooth that I decided to pull over at a deli on the way and grab an onion bagel with veggie cream cheese. I’ll NEVER forget that bagel!! When we left the deli, I dropped my mother off at her meeting in the metro center area. I headed upper northwest to my office in Dupont Circle. When I got to my office, I turned on my computer and sat down to eat my bagel. Just when I was about to take a bite…..my phone rang. It was one of my girlfriends. She and I were chatting about nothing and then I heard my boss scream from his office…….. “A plane just crashed into the twin towers!!!” Everybody went running into his office.

Then the second plane hit!

And without much more thought, my boss---a very smart man---simply said….. “it’s an attack”. The office staff were at a standstill watching the news in the conference room. You could hear a pin drop. Then all of a sudden somebody shouted…… “we’re being hit too!!!” On the television we watched the twin towers in smoke and looked out the window and saw a building in smoke. From our window we couldn’t tell what was on fire, but knew that it was major. We first thought it was the White House. But then we got breaking news that it was indeed the Pentagon. The Director of the small nonprofit organization simply told us to go home.

Just as all of DC, I was frantic and didn’t know whether I was coming or going. My colleague, who lived in northern VA was terrified to ride the metro. In fact, I don’t remember what happened with metro. So I told my colleague to just come home with me. Cause I wasn’t crossing no bridge—lol. No one was thinking logically that day. I remember pulling my car out of the garage and it took me an hour to get to the corner. Gridlock, road block, J-walking, and all kinda motor vehicle laws were breaking. No one cared. Cause everybody understood. We just wanted to get home to our families. To safety.

If I had remembered my route home, I still couldn’t remember to remember it on 9/11. My mind was not focused on nothing but getting out of DC. And so I just drove in the direction of where all the cars were moving. I was clearly off my route to home, but I was moving out of DC and that was all that mattered. Then if not my mind, my heart screamed……. “my mother!!!” The way the traffic was moving took me further away from where my mother’s meeting was. All I could do was pray that somebody had had mercy on her and gave her a ride into Maryland. Cause cell phones did not work. And there was absolutely no way to get in touch with your loved ones even if you tried. It was horrific.

But God.

Let me tell you how awesome God is. I was driving and my colleague was sitting in the passenger seat. My mind was in a daze. Horns were bonking and folk were everywhere. Some running, but most walking swiftly to get out of dodge. And then my colleague says….. “that woman is just standing there like she’s waiting for a ride, but nobody’s coming to get her in all this mess.” I looked over…….and it was my mother!!!! When she saw me and got in my car she said she had walked and walked, and the Lord told her to just standstill and wait. And that’s what she did. It was purely an act of God.

By the time we got home it was mid afternoon. We were stuck in traffic trying to get into Maryland for hours. Just as we got into Maryland, my colleague was able to get a connection on her phone and called her mom. Her parents came to my house to get her. Cause I wasn’t crossing over no bridge---lol. Did I mention that? I made it clear then, and I’ll make it clear now.

I was soooo mentally and emotionally drained. Cause my family is split between DC and New York. Calls were flying back and forth, and we were trying to account for everybody. By the time we completed the family roll call it was evening. Everybody had stories and everybody wanted to know…….what next?

As I lay in bed watching the news, I was solemn. But then I saw a news flash that pissed me off!!! Normally, as in most states, when there’s inclement weather the news stations will flash school and office closings. And so they used this same format to keep us up-to-date on the latest closings. Understandable. This is an emergency. But then I saw SEVERAL mega churches in the area flash across the screen that they were canceling bible study and Tuesday night services. I couldn’t believe it. You mean to tell me the church’s doors aren’t open so that we could come together and pray for our country. I could NOT believe it. I think that’s when I started looking at the church a little differently.

The September 11, 2001 attacks were the worst public catastrophe in my lifetime. I wasn’t born on D-day, or the killings of MLK or JFK. And I kinda thought I’d escape that sorta tragedy in my lifetime. But I didn’t. I will never forget that day. I haven’t had a bagel and cream cheese since. That day my heart hurt for my country. And today, my heart and prayers continue to go out to all the victims of 9/11.

One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple. For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; in the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD. --Psalm 27:4-6