The Five a.m. Phone Call

September 11th, 2001 started off like any other day. Husband got up for work at 4:30, started the coffee and then came back upstairs to wake me before he left. At the time, I had a wonderful job that I truly loved. The best part? I was able to work from home.

Due to the time difference, my workday started around 5 am, since things started picking up online around 9 am eastern. People would get their children off to school and have their morning coffee while talking online with other military spouses. It was a lot of fun and one of the happiest and most fulfilling times of my entire life.

Our youngest was eleven months old. Daughter had slept through the night from the time she was three weeks old. Son never slept. An hour here, two hours there...husband and I were exhausted.

That morning was like all mornings, I needed a gallon of coffee and fast. I tipped toed down the stairs as to not wake little guy. I usually could get 45 minutes to myself if I was careful and quiet upstairs. This way, I could wake up and be pleasant Mommy instead of Mommy who doesn't want to talk heh heh. So not a morning person, but multiplied by the lack of sleep for almost a year.

I turn on the computer and head to the kitchen to get my mug of Jumpstart (as GuyK calls it). I sat down at my desk and literally jumped when the phone rang a few minutes before five. No one calls this early, so I automatically thought someone was sick or worse...

It was my father-in-law calling from Jersey. He asked where husband was - well, he's at work of course. He asked if I'd turned on the TV and I told him no, I'd just gotten sat down to start work and the TV stays off until the little ones wake up. He said, "Well, turn it on...a plane has hit the World Trade Tower. They are saying it must have been an accident, but I don't by it. That hole is too big for some small plane."

As we're talking, I am walking over to turn on the TV. He tells me to call husband and ask him to call him. About that time, I see a plane hit the other tower and say, "Oh my gosh, another plane has hit!" FIL asks if I'm sure, maybe it's video of the first plane hitting...I tell him no, it's a second plane. He says he knew it hadn't been an accident. Asks me again to have husband call him.

I call husband and he's already well aware of what's going on. Says he won't be able to call his Dad, so call him back and tell him he'll have to call him tonight or whenever he gets off work. Husband would be in meetings in a secure area - no cell phones, so he'd be out of touch until they got done. He'd call me when he could.

And with that, life on an Army installation changed forever. People who lived off post would sit for hours waiting to get on. Many ran out of gas those first few days the wait was so long. No longer could you drive on during the day with no gate guards. Now, there were numerous guards, mirrors to look for bombs, cars pulled off to the side to be thoroughly searched. I was thankful we'd decided to move on post for our last two years in the frozen tundra. Husband would have had a horrible time trying to get to work.

The rest of my day was spent doing my job while listening to the news, fielding phone calls from nervous relatives who just assumed husband would be on a plane within hours to somewhere lol. I love our extended family, but they have no clue. "Well, when will he deploy?" Umm, well, our personal line to President Bush is down, so we're just not sure. Sheesh - who says he's going anywhere? At the time, his BN was doing that transformation thing or they were about to start it...they weren't a good candidate for deployment. That would come a few years later for that group, quite a few years later and we'd be in another state and husband would have not only already done one tour in Iraq, but gearing up for the second one before those folks would be heading home.

Mostly, as sad I was for those who died and their families, I was more angry than I'd ever been in my life. I stayed angry...and I won't be satified until the last terrorist is dead. They deserve no mercy as they have none for others...

My prayers are with those who were killed and all who loved them. May God hold them gently as they face another year without their loved ones.

posted by Shannon at 11:22 AM   |    |  

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