{"id":221,"date":"2016-09-11T16:04:47","date_gmt":"2016-09-11T20:04:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/?p=221"},"modified":"2016-09-11T16:04:47","modified_gmt":"2016-09-11T20:04:47","slug":"year-feel-horror","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/year-feel-horror\/","title":{"rendered":"Each Year I Feel the Horror"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"img_7120\"I awoke this morning and decided to turn on the television, to try to catch up on current events. I have been too busy with other things to pay much attention to what is going on in the world (and have been avoiding the constant coverage of politics). Since it was early, and I had not yet had my coffee, I had forgotten the date (which to be honest, I hardly pay attention to anymore).\u00a0 I was quickly reminded.<\/p>\n

Today is a tough day. It has been for the past 15 years. Though no one I knew was lost that day, I have not gotten through an anniversary of the day without tears. I remember the morning clearly and now understand the question \u201cWhere were you when\u2026?\u201d For my parents\u2019 generation, it was the day was Kennedy was shot. For mine and my kids, it was September 11. No year is needed, it is simply September 11.<\/p>\n

I remember (and relive each year) the emotions of that day. My older kids were off to school, I had just showered and put the TV on for some light entertainment, yet it wasn\u2019t Regis and Kelly<\/em> I saw on the screen, but an image of New York, with smoke coming from one of the towers. Matt Lauer and Katie Couric were discussing breaking news: apparently a commuter plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. Moments later, a plane flew on to the screen and crashed into the other. I felt sick. It was obvious that this was intentional and the reports began \u2013 we were under attack. Then they went to DC were an explosion had rocked the Pentagon and then were reports of another plane going down in central PA.<\/p>\n

Now we know what happened, but at the time, one could only speculate. I was afraid. The hows, the whys, even the who was unknown. I couldn\u2019t step away from the television. I watched the World Trade Center smolder. I had been there on multiple occasions. Like many tourists, I stood at the top and viewed the city below; I had been to the restaurant at the top, celebrating an anniversary. That morning, I called my husband, multiple times. I asked him if the tower would fall over. He reassured me, no, it was built to withstand just about anything.\u00a0 Then, just seconds later, the towers crumbled.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t breathe.<\/p>\n

Then I had the uncontrollable urge to collect everyone I loved and get them close. I called the elementary school and told the secretary there (which whom I had developed a relationship) that I was going to pick my kids up (from three schools). She convinced me that they were safe there and it would be best for them to stay. I contacted family members throughout the country, ensuring they were all safe. Though I could not reach those in New York, other family members were able to and assured me they were safe.<\/p>\n

I continued to watch the coverage. At this point, my three year old was wondering where Mommy was and came looking. This is what finally pulled me away. No child should watch that. When the older kids got home, I didn\u2019t have to tell them what was happening. They had heard about it in school (and despite a news blackout ordered by the administration, one had seen some of it on TV).<\/p>\n

I felt helpless. I didn\u2019t know if anyone I knew was involved and felt guilty that all my loved ones were accounted for. So many others could not say the same. Then the stories started coming out. Stories of loss and of heroism. They all made me cry. Though the kids knew what had happened, they couldn\u2019t understand why. How do you explain this kind of evil to a child? Our church announced a prayer service and Mass that night. No one else in my family wanted to go, but I had to. I was too emotional to stay for it all, but going helped me.<\/p>\n

The days that followed were also difficult. One of the kids spent time building block towers and knocking them down with a pretend airplane. I tried to not talk about it around them and limit the television to kid-friendly channels, but they needed to talk as well. It was eerily quiet. The lack of air traffic was a dramatic difference since there were several airstrips nearby. When a military plane flew over, we all jumped in fear.<\/p>\n

As the first anniversary approached, I planned to avoid media altogether. It was too much. I couldn\u2019t handle my emotions. I understand why we memorialize these things, but there is no danger that I will ever forget. Our community lost a few people and there are ceremonies each year. My children attend; I still can\u2019t. I wonder if I ever will.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I awoke this morning and decided to turn on the television, to try to catch up on current events. I have been too busy with other things to pay much attention to what is going on in the world (and have been avoiding the constant coverage of politics). Since it was early, and I had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Each Year I Feel the Horror","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-september-11"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7mJoQ-3z","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":356,"url":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/read-f-ing-story\/","url_meta":{"origin":221,"position":0},"title":"Read the F*@%-ing Story Before You Leave a Comment","author":"Kimberly Yavorski","date":"October 5, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Sorry for the profanity, but \"Read the Gosh Darn Story...\"\u009d just wouldn't get your attention. Headlines are meant to grab your attention and get you to react. After all, the best writing in the world is useless if no one reads it. While commenting on a story is your right,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "social mores"","block_context":{"text":"social mores","link":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/category\/social-mores\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"IMG_5414","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/10\/IMG_5414-300x220.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":318,"url":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/readers-to-blame\/","url_meta":{"origin":221,"position":1},"title":"Are Readers to Blame for Sensational Journalism?","author":"Kimberly Yavorski","date":"February 7, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Shortly after the election, a young woman I know requested help with a media ethics class assignment. Her task was to find examples of bias in the news that was of concern to readers. Since this is someone I am fond of and the topic is in my field, I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"news\"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/tag\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"newspaper-1595773_1920","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/02\/newspaper-1595773_1920-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/02\/newspaper-1595773_1920-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/02\/newspaper-1595773_1920-300x200.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":279,"url":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/final-hail-chief\/","url_meta":{"origin":221,"position":2},"title":"A Final Hail to the Chief","author":"Kimberly Yavorski","date":"January 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"You know that list of top people you would want to invite for dinner? The Obamas (and the Bidens as well) would certainly make my list. As we prepare to say farewell to someone who will certainly have more than a brief mention in future history books, I feel compelled\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "politics"","block_context":{"text":"politics","link":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/category\/politics\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"100_1078-1ed","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/01\/100_1078-1ed-300x199.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":151,"url":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/new-sexual-revolution\/","url_meta":{"origin":221,"position":3},"title":"Are We on the Cusp of a New Sexual Revolution?","author":"Kimberly Yavorski","date":"June 7, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The viral reactions to recent news has been unusual to say the least, resulting in a an uproar across the internet. 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I saw several posts celebrating women and talking about this year\u2019s call: \u201cPledging for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "feminism"","block_context":{"text":"feminism","link":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/category\/feminism\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"100_9209","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/03\/100_9209.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":41,"url":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/my-worst-fear-came-true-i-inherited-my-grandmothers-chest\/","url_meta":{"origin":221,"position":5},"title":"My Worst Fear Came True \u2013 I Inherited My Grandmother\u2019s Chest","author":"Kimberly Yavorski","date":"March 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"My biggest fear growing up was that someday I would have Grandma\u2019s chest. You may be questioning this statement and picturing some hideous wooden box, however, I am not talking about a Hope Chest or anything of the sort, but the chest she carried beneath her chin and above her\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "family"","block_context":{"text":"family","link":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/category\/family\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"07","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2016\/03\/07.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":444,"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221\/revisions\/444"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kimberlyyavorski.com\/inandout\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}