The sky was very blue twelve years ago. Photo by María Helena Carey
A day that changed life as we know it is not easily forgettable.
Here at The Hill is Home, we wanted to mark the 12th anniversary of 9/11 with memories from our writers. We would also love it if you shared your own in the comments.
Sharee Lawler: My husband and I celebrated our one-year anniversary by house hunting and in August 2001, bought our first home and moved to Capitol Hill. Exactly one month later, I walked from my office in Chinatown to our new home, shocked and scared, traversing snarled intersections filled with armed police who appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Following the coverage at home, I felt for the first time what proximity to power – literally – could mean. For one second, I asked myself if we had made a bad choice moving from cushy Chevy Chase. My very next thought was, “No.” It would take much more than this act to shake my faith in this town. I loved living on the Hill for the following 12 years, but never as acutely as in that moment.
Jen DeMayo: I was a stay-at-home mom with an almost-walking 14 month old. I had written an article for the Hill Rag’s September issue about MOTH and how it enriched my life as a new mom. The assistant editor at the time, whose name I have forgotten, wanted to meet to discuss my writing a monthly Kids and Family feature, so I took my baby up to Stompin’ Grounds around 9:30 to meet her. I think the second tower had just been hit. It was so surreal, and I was late to the meeting, so we just took off. As we were chatting the coffee shop began to fill up with staffers on cell phones. This editor, lovely as she was, was too calm. It felt weird continuing to chat. We ended the meeting and I went home. My family had been frantically trying to reach me. (I didn’t have a cell phone then.) My husband eventually walked home from Dupont and we spent the day –well, many days– watching TV. Late that afternoon a fellow MOTH and I were chatting on the phone and wanted to get the babies outside after being cooped up all day. We were a bit concerned that it might be almost disrespectful to go to a park after such devastation. But toddler needs prevailed and we met up at Lincoln Park in the gorgeous late-afternoon. I had never seen the park so filled with kids and grown ups. All around us parents were discussing the day, wondering where the president was and what was going to happen next all with the roar of the fighter jets in the background.
Kyra DeBlaker-Gebhard: I don’t know what else to say other than I ran through every emotion I had that day in the span of just a few short hours.
Lauren Torlone: I had been at college for only a couple of weeks on 9/11. Being right here in DC was really terrifying. Landlines were busy and I didn’t have a cell phone at the time (hard to even imagine that now). Organizers at Catholic U arranged for buses to take students to donate blood. I remember not being able to turn off the TV– totally glued to what I was seeing unfold.
Tim Ebner: My high school, located a few blocks north of the US Capitol, was placed on lock down for the entire day. I remember looking out the window from the fourth floor library and seeing dark smoke drifting over DC. There were also rumors that more planes were headed toward DC and the Capitol. It was the first time that I sensed real fear and danger among classmates and teachers.
Jon Penndorf: I was at work at 16th and K Streets NW, and my boss had just flown back to DC that morning from Maine. He ran into the office, grabbed the TV and brought it out to the lunch area. I was actually on the phone with my parents (letting them know I was okay) when our building was evacuated and we were told we could not go back in for the rest of the day. I spent over an hour on buses getting home to Silver Spring and watched my television for the rest of the day.
Kate McFadden: I was working a block from the White House when a colleague called me to her office. Our New York office was in Tribeca and they had just evacuated their offices. When it became apparent we should go home I walked back to the Hill. We stayed off the Mall for a while — without access to the news — until my gut told me seeing the Capitol would be comforting, provided nothing had happened there. I took a brief sigh of relief when I saw it standing against that blue sky, untouched.
Maria Helena Carey: I will never be able to forget waking up to the morning radio show, listening to the DJs as they described the unbelievable acts unfolding on TV in a monotone. The sun had not yet risen in California, but the sky on TV was bright blue. I went to work at the high school in the middle of the artichoke fields, where we spent the day glued to the TV, talking and crying. I’m forever grateful to the student who created an antenna out of a paper clip. Thank you, Justin, wherever you are.