September 11, 2001 is such a day for all of us. Like other days that live in our memories this is a day most of us remember vividly. I say most because my 16 year old grandson did not know of it at the time. Since they were living in Germany at the time, his parents felt that his lack of knowledge would keep him safer. His peers and younger children are very aware of the war that has been waged since that terrible day.
I was at work at a moving and storage company in Florida that morning. Part of my job was to communicate with the trucks that were doing furniture deliveries. My husband had taken me to work and then returned home. As he walked in the front door and turned on the Today Show, the first reports were coming in. As soon as it began to look like more than an accident he called me at work. As we spoke, the second plane hit and I knew it was war. One of the first things I did was pick up the microphone and call our crews to give them the news. I remember saying "This is war!" Some of our crews were too young to fully grasp what this meant but those of us who did get it were both scared and angry. After work when I went home we watched the re-plays over and over again until sickened we had to turn off the TV.
Our plans had been to fly to Germany the next day in anticipation of meeting a new grandchild arriving shortly. All planes were grounded indefinitely but finally on Saturday Sept 15, 2001 we were able to board a plane that would take us to Germany to meet Brigid Kathleen, born Sept 14, 2001. The airline we used was a German one and security was so high that one passenger set off alarms by having a foil wrapped piece of gum in his back pocket. Our German flight crew had been stranded in the United States for a week and was very relieved to be going home.
Yes, we were in Germany and I remember my friend calling me asking when my parents were coming and asking me to sit down. She knew I was very close to being due, and that the stress of this could put me into Labor. We did feel that not making Aidan aware would keep him safer. We lived in a German community, and as he was attending a German pre-school, he would be safer continuing with his normal routine. As he left the house he would switch into German mode, so those who did not know us would think he was just a German kiddo. It was a very scary time to be living in Germany. Very difficult to get on base when we needed to, and getting a passport for our newborn was difficult as well.
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