I am enrolled in an online phsycology class. I had to write my flashbulb memory experience about 0911. This website was relayed through another student’s posting. After viewing it I thought I would share my story hear to.
I was surprisingly excited about this assignment. I have enjoyed the discussions with this class but this one has really hit the spot! After I read the question, I immediately could remember (the same every time the subject comes up) the exact events of that morning. It was only after being asked to express it through writing that I remembered everything: even the food I ate from seven years ago. I can’t even remember exactly what I ate two days ago, much less seven years ago. Now that I have had to really think about it-September 11, 2001 is the only day I can remember everything over the course of about four hours that took place in my lifetime!
I worked third shift at Food Lion for about two months while in transition to another job. I got home about 7:00AM on mornings that I worked. My friend Angie and I were sharing a house (white old-fashioned) by renting it together; she had three kids. Since I was single I had the room right next to the front door and for some reason it was the coldest(in the summer) and warmest(in the winter) in the house. At the time I had a 27’ TV and my girlfriend had a 13’ TV with a VCR built into it (DVD’s were expensive at the time) for her kids. We switched TV’s so her kids could have the bigger one. On my TV if I watched a movie on the VCR, after it went off the TV would go to fuzz. As I stated my room was the coldest in the house (it was summer). I got home on 0911 at about 7AM and put on a movie. I bundled up in my feather blanket with my burgundy duvet cover on it. About 9AM the phone started going ‘off the hook’.
After about five continuous minutes I was mad to say the least. I opened one eye and saw the television. My movie had gone off but because of the new TV I was watching NBC and not fuzz. Lying in bed I saw images of a burning building. I had the volume down to sleep so I had heard nothing yet. After my eyes focused a little more I started to wander in my head, “what movie is this? That looks really real!”, still being ‘pissed off’ in my head for my phone ringing and interrupting my so far 11/2 hours of sleep. My eyes started to focus a little more and my consciousness started to become reliable. As slowly I began to actually be aware of my surroundings after waking up (my head still lying sideways on my pillow-from sleeping on my side) the facts strangely and instinctively started to sink in.
I reached for my remote and turned up the volume. One of the twin towers had been hit by an airplane. Before I could answer my phone or take a phone call from a maddening phone ring, I witnessed the second tower hit; live on TV. This has been etched in my mind ever since!
I got out of bed, now racing to the phone. My girlfriend Stephanie was on the other line. “My brother is working at the Pentagon, and we don’t know where he works, or actually what he does because it is top secret.” The next ten minutes were a blur, putting on clothes, shoes, and heading out of the door. Upon arriving at her house we were alone, surprisingly enough because of a total household of eight. We took every call that came in. I consoled with my friend, not knowing how her brother was, after the news about the Pentagon.
Since around 9AM we had had very little sleep (her from a night, more than likely out and about) and me working from third shift where I was very alert but very tired. We made a ‘Voila’ dinner (you know the frozen meals-this one was chicken, pasta, carrots, and broccoli) to eat. We made toast (wheat) with butter and garlic salt on it to eat. As previously stated this is amazing to me to actually remember what I ate. It as well signifies a sense of growing up. Time goes by so quickly the older that we get, but when I think about things such as this, the Challenger, the O.J. Simpson chase, and ( but not limited to the hatred of Sudan Hussein the US) have I come to terms that I am getting older and more wiser. Time seems to pass by so quickly (especially as we get older) but days like that one, will stay with me forever.
That is it that is what I remember. The next 24, 48, I don’t know 1006 hours- I watched footage on the situation at hand. You couldn’t find anything else on. I still don’t remember everything I saw from footage or even true feelings that I had at the time, but I will never forget what I was doing, why I was doing it, and even what I ate on September 11, 2001!