Where were you when the world stopped turning...

...10 years ago today?

I just finished reading a series of books that started with December 7, 1941 - the attack on Pearl Harbor.  This summer I saw again the site where an American president was shot in broad daylight on November 22, 1963.  Earlier this year, I watched on TV the final liftoff of a NASA space shuttle and reminisced other liftoffs - of course remembering the fatal Challenger explosion on January 28, 1986.  And last weekend I stopped again to see the memorial to flight attendants, pilots and crew who died in the 4 airplanes that crashed on September 11, 2001 in New York City.

Days that shape the history, culture, beliefs, and attitudes of Americans - whether we were there or not.

New York City was a dream of mine...as soon as I knew about Broadway.  My dream trip was to go see Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, but then I got to see it in Dallas while in high school.  So when my parents asked where I wanted to go after graduation, I said - New York City!  But what to see?  Opening year of "Beauty & the Beast" and 8th row seats for "Les Miserables".  It was magical :)

And then there were the other sights!!  I've been back twice since and have favorite memories from each trip, but as a family, one of our favorites from that first trip was the World Trade Centers.  We're suckers for museums and the top floor had a great one.  I remember the flags of all(?) the countries of the world winding their way around the lobby as you stood in line to buy tickets and go up.  And while the Empire State Building is iconic ("Sleepless in Seattle" - "An Affair to Remember")  the observation deck feels a little "cagey" with all the bars and such.  The observation deck on the WTC was open air and an unfettered view all around.  Surreal to a young woman with her future ahead of her.  My mom put a little picture in a Christmas ornament that year and each year when I unpack it, I reminisce on the good memories of that trip. 

Mom, Jason and I in the plaza surrounded by the two towers and other buildings of the WTC.  That sculpture behind us survived (albeit damaged) and was in Battery Park when I saw it in 2006.

Me on top of the WTC with the Brooklyn Bridge behind me.

Of course, now they're gone.  And the vivid images of their collapse are burned into the mind of all of us who witnessed it.  The last 10 years owe many things to decisions made because of the backlash of that day - from wars to taking off shoes in the airport. 

But today I pray our country can stop and remember - those who died, those who helped, those who lost loved ones.  To remember.

Where was I on that September day?  With a classroom of 8th graders.  We heard a plane hit the tower and I remember assuring them it must have been a horrible accident of a small private plane and not to worry.  Then we turned on the TV and saw the pillars of smoke.  They asked "What kind of plane was it?" as so many of their Grapevine-Colleyville families had ties to American Airlines.  Then we discovered 2 of the planes were AA.  The first wave of news said it was extremist Muslims and this was no accident - and where else would be targeted?  And the Muslim students of my class & school began a new existence of painful words, looks and attitudes towards them, even though they were just as American as their neighbor.  I was 25 and had no idea how to answer these 13-yr-olds questions.  But I comforted as I could, distracted as needed, and tried to keep myself composed, too.  That night (or the next?) I went to an impromptu prayer service at church and we prayed, we hugged, we cried and we "called on Jesus" (as the Nicole C. Mullen song "When you call on Jesus" played to a moving tribute my friend Kyle had put together.)  She says

"When you call on Jesus,
All things are possible
You can mount on wings like eagles' and soar
When you call on Jesus,
Mountains are gonna fall
'Cause He'll move heaven and earth to come rescue you when you--


Call Him in the morning', in the afternoon time
Late in the evening' He'll be there
When your heart is broken,
And you feel discouraged,
You can just remember that He said
He'll be there"


10 years later I really don't know what else to do besides continue to "call on Jesus".  I don't know what His plan is.  But I am sure He has one.  I know all things are possible with Him.  I know He can do more than I ask or imagine.  And I know there will not be peace until He returns.

Come quickly.

Until then - we remember.
And if you need a place to go - (and you're in DFW) try the corner of Texan Trails and NW Hwy (Just past the Gaylord & Great Wolf Lodge) in Grapevine.  (Photos by my friend Mollie)

p.s. The post title is the moving song written & sung by Alan Jackson "Where were you when the world stopped turning?"