God Bless Jack Bauer
So much to say right now. I have never been able to document in print my actions or memories. Until now thanks to WordPress and the internet.
I’m sure everyone and their brother and their brother’s cousin (wait, wouldn’t that be their cousin too?) are blogging, tweeting, and Facebooking, about how historic the events of tonight are.
People often ask ‘Where were you when…?’ and the conversation usually includes 9/11/01, Michael Jackson, and (for our older folks) JFK.
For 9/11: I was at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, NV with my wife trying to board a plane to come home when the planes hit. We got stuck there for 5 days but our loss was not as dear as many others. I’ll save that for another blog.
For Michael Jackson: I was sitting on my couch with my family watching TV when I flipped on Facebook on my phone and saw someone post how the rumor was he had passed. This led to almost two hours of watching the news coverage. I’ll save that for another blog.
For JFK: well, my mom was only 7 years old when he was killed so I obviously wasn’t around. Another blog for this will be unnecessary.
Now it can include 5/1/11.
However I wasn’t at the Mets/Phillies game. I wasn’t outside the White House. I wasn’t at Ground Zero in NY.
While most Americans were asleep, dreaming, or going to bed and preparing for their Monday mornings: I was sitting on my couch (again) watching TV when I flipped on Facebook on my phone and saw someone post how the rumor was Osama bin Laden had been killed. A little eerie right?
Take into consideration I am about 80 hours away from trying to board another plane… to Las Vegas. Still eerie?
How about nearly 66 years to the day that Hitler was dead?
Now I’m stunned. What do I do? Do I continue to sit here in complete silence like I have for the last 2 hours watching the news coverage for the next 2 hours because it’s more significant than MJ’s death? Do I go and wake up my wife and kids and hug them and share the good news with them? Do I get dressed and rush to a public setting and celebrate my patriotism like thousands across this country are doing? Do I cancel my trip to Vegas because I’m scared about what might happen in the next few days?
I will probably wake up my wife (mainly because I want to share this moment with someone other than the internet) but until that moment, as more details become public knowledge and news about a military operation that sounds very 24-esque, I will: thank the men, women, and families of the US military, thank our President, and thank God everyday for everything he gives us. Especially Jack Bauer & Las Vegas.
Please add your comments below about your 9/11 experience and this special night of 5/1
BruceRWilson's Blog 
Awesome thoughts Bruce.
For 9/11, Nelson and I were at home. He had a meeting to go to so he didn’t have to go into work early. I was studying for a German test for school. We had the tv on and were making breakfast.So the coverage came on about the first tower and AS WE WATCHED the second tower was hit, right in front of our eyes. We were stunned. We stayed glued to the tv. His meeting and my class were cancelled. Since we’re in Philly, the news of the Pentagon and Shanksville closed everything. All major public buildings, all the historical and federal stuff, all the public transportation. So a few hours later Nelson had to try to get downtown in gridlock traffic to pick up Lupe because she’d gone into town that morning on the train for a work meeting at 8 AM and didn’t even know about what happened till afterwards when people on the street told her. I was very worried about Nelson and Lupe stuck downtown but they were fine. Then the days of mourning and news coverage began.
For MJ, I was at your house. Marge and I had come on vacation for you guys to meet her after she was born. I spent a lot of time seeing coverage on Chandler’s tv after you guys showed me how to use the Nielson box. Honestly though, MJ’s death didn’t impact me the way the Challenger disaster or some big incidents in the Middle East did. And just for the sake of it, I was home sick in the 4th grade when challenger happened. I remember sitting at the table in Hampton Hills working on makeup homework when news of it broke into Price is Right. Mom was there, she saw it but went about doing other stuff pretty soon, but I remember viewing it several times. We’d had stuff in school about Christa McAuliffe and you remember how into space stuff I was, so it made a big impression on my ten-year-old self. I think you were in school but I don’t remember.
Last night, I woke around 1:30 to feed baby Claire and as I was getting up, Nelson had just finished viewing articles and videos about it online. He told me and I can definitely say I was stunned again. I asked for all sorts of details and then Margaret got up and wreaked havoc on the household, so I didn’t get to read about it or watch the news till this morning. It is weird for me to experience these huge things that my kids will have no memory of. How is Chandler handling it?
Bev
May 2, 2011 at 1:31 pm