This is my first daylog. In general, I try not to node my life. (Partly because it's boring, and I don't think people will be interested, and partly because when there are interesting things, I would prefer that people don't know about them...) But this time, well, I just didn't feel like I could let all of these things go unsaid.
I woke up yesterday morning, started getting my children ready for school. I sat down to check my /msgs here, and saw that the chatbox was scrolling past at an alarming rate. Someone was saying, "Jesus! TWO planes???" I had no idea what he was talking about. Then the phone rang.
It's the end of the world as we know it. It's the end of the world as we know it. It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine.
It was my mom. She wanted to know if I was watching the news. Which is hilarious, because my mother knows that the televison news gives me headaches, and that I never watch it first thing in the morning. I told her, "No, and I'm not reading it, either, because for some reason CNN.com is not loading this morning."
She started to tell me, slowly, what had been happening in the news. And then she told me to get my children ready, and get them to school. I didn't want to. She said, "Susie, you are in Texas. Nothing is going to happen to them, now get moving!" (I don't know what planet ya'll are from, but when my mom says "MOVE!", people scurry in all directions.) So, I got them dressed, and drove them to their school.
All morning, more and more scary things trickled in via the radio and television. For some reason, my mother, who lives in Louisiana (my sister lives there, as well, my two brothers and I are "transplanted", and live in the Dallas area) insisted that I call my brothers, and call her back to let her know they were safe. I think my exact words were, "Ummm. Mom? We live in Texas. We are not even CLOSE to anything that is happening." She sounded agitated, and repeated her request. I did what she asked. It was easy, and it would calm her down.
One of my brothers was stranded in Austin, Texas, where he had been at a business meeting, but is returning home in a rental car. My oldest brother was boarding a plane from the DFW International Airport to LAX when the first plane crashed into the WTC. His plane was grounded. (I'm not a religious person, in any sense of the word, but THANK GOD.) I guess that moms just have some sort of sixth sense about when their children are not where they're supposed to be.
Like evilrooster, I have been spending a lot of time thinking about the world that my children will be inheriting, and what the parents of the people killed yesterday must be going through. My dreams are feverish and disjointed, and scary. But, even admidst this tragedy, there are things that give me hope. The American Red Cross emergency aid stations all over the U.S. were filled to capacity with people from all walks of life, donating blood and manpower.
My husband, suntzu, spent most of yesterday waiting in line at an aid station to give blood. He signed in at around 3 p.m. At 12:30 a.m. last night, he returned. He was tired, a little woozy, but full of pride in the people that he saw around him...Here is a copy of the e-mail that he sent to a group of our friends, with whom we have a mailing list:
What a long, long day at Red Cross. I showed up at 3:30, spent an hour or so being processed and then decided to leave until my time came around, which was to be about 7. I went back and have just now gotten home. It's 12:30am.
There were hundreds of folks out there today, and I have to say that I've never seen so many kind-hearted people in one place before in my life. 7 hour lines, and not one complaint. Red Cross employees on their 16th hour of frantic work, and on each face a smile. A tired one to be sure, but a smile nonetheless.
While I was in the "Chair of Ransacking Your Fluids", I could see a young teenage girl named Caroline giving blood, tears running down her face. She insisted that her mother bring her, because it was all she could do to help out. I was in line with her and her mother for several hours and I can say that she was as determined as she was terrified. I hope that I can be as proud of my own kids one day, as I was of her today. Anyway, I'm all woozy from the leeches, so I'm going to bed. M
I'm still in shock about all of the things that might have (and in some cases, HAVE) happened to any of us yesterday. I'm still in shock about hermetic, even though I only spoke to him a few times. I guess we don't expect harm or disaster to come to any of our friends or loved ones, much less in the way that it has rained down on us this week.
I think that we should take comfort in the fact that we are all here for each other, and that Americans everywhere seem to be banding together to face whatever is to come.
And I want to take this opportunity to let you all know that even if I've never said it to you, I love you, and I'm grateful for the community that we have here, and the support that it offers to each of us.
Let's all hope that next week is better than this one...