Thursday, September 11, 2008

September 11

There are those days of such historical note that we all can easily remember where we were and what we were doing at that particular moment. For my in laws, Pearl Harbor is one of those moments. My generation can easily recall the day Kennedy was shot. Now, sadly, we have another day to add to the list. Hubby and I were in London on vacation with our parents on this terrible day 7 years ago. I won't bore you with the details except for one event that actually took place a couple of days after the attack, when the entire city of London stood still in a moment of silence in honor of those who lost their lives.

My mother and I and my mother in law were in a huge square just outside the Tower of London, where all the tourist buses congregate. one moment it was your typical bustling big city full of noise and movement, then suddenly, silence. No traffic noise, no voices, nothing except an occasional birds cry. I couldn't see the busy street that borders the square, but the traffic must have stopped because there was no noise coming from the street-no engines running, horns honking, nothing. All the people in the square stood silently, enveloped in their own thoughts. It was a profound moment.

3 comments:

BeachRunner said...

I was there 7 years ago (my brother too) and we made it home safely.

Lily on the Road said...

It was a profound moment.

That date will remain in all of our minds, until a younger generation has an event of their own, sad to say, but true. Humans never learn.

I was on the phone with a supplier when the phone went dead. Once of the guys I worked with came out of his office and said "a plane just hit a building in N.Y."

Gone in an instant....so, so sad.

Sherri said...

It was a sad day indeed. Hard to believe it was 7 years ago. I will never forget that moment. As well, I remember where I was when the space shuttle went down (the 1st time). I bet that was a heck of an experience for that moment of silence in London. Inspiring.