Active Rain is GREAT at encouraging members to write excellent blog content. One successful way is to offer contests. Yes, most of us in the real estate community are quite competitive. I'm no different. So when I saw the Kodak Moment contest, I knew I had to share the most poignant photo I've ever captured on film. Here is my contest submission:
By itself, this image may not convey a lot of emotion.
By itself, you can't tell that the world as we know it has just changed forever.
But, if you knew that this photo was taken from the top of the high rise building one mile from the Pentagon - and that it was taken on a crisp sunny morning September 11, 2001 then the story certainly begins to change.
Yes, this particular photo will be one that stays with me the rest of my life.
This was the image from the top of our apartment highrise on Ft. Myer, VA. The trees you see here are part of Arlington National Cemetary. And just beyond the cemetary is the Pentagon...in flames and smoke...shortly after the terrorist attacks had taken place.
I was 9 months pregnant with my first son. My husband, Kevin, was already gone for the day, involved in riot training on our base. Me - I was enjoying my last days of sleeping in knowing that this luxury would soon be a distant memory. I didn't know that morning how utterly different my world would be when I stood in horror of this view.
It was around 9 am and I heard lots of helicopters on base. I assumed it was part of the training. Minutes later my friend called asking if I had been watching the news. I turn it on and my mouth dropped as I saw the images on TV. From this point on my world was shaken...
Our apartment was just 1 mile from the Pentagon.
Friends began calling, one after another. They all ask if Kevin is OK.
For a while I wasn't sure where he would be. There was a remote chance that Kevin could have been at the Pentagon that morning, on a last minute Color Guard mission.
But, luckily, he called me. He told me to stay put. To not go to my afternoon doctor's appointment. And to stay calm. EVERYONE told me to stay calm.
The base went on lock-down. Swarms of FBI vehicles began to set up headquarters on base.
You see, the Joint Chiefs of Staff were located on our base. Arlington National Cemetary was our backyard and the Washington, DC skyline was the view from our apartment building. The only thing I kept thinking was - we could be the next target.
For the next few days I was glued to the TV where normal programming had ceased and round-the-clock new coverage was all that aired.
Kevin spent the evening of 9/11 and several nights after doing search and rescue at the Pentagon. What he saw and experienced those days I do not wish to know.
Personally, I spent the evening of 9/11 writing a letter to my unborn baby. A letter that expressed my sorrow for the nation and the fact that he would be born into a completely different world. A world where we lived in fear of terrorists - a world where the US was at war - a world where getting onto an airplane was no longer a fun adventure, but a scary way to travel. That night I cried for my nation. I feared for my husband. I beamed with pride to be an American.
Not the kind of cheery Kodak moment we like to reflect on, but one that is permanently with me none the less.
I haven't forgotten...
This post is written as a submission to the ActiveRain 'Kodak Moments' contest. I have the chance to win the KODAK EASYSHARE M580 Digital Camera
To participate in the ActiveRain contest, visit the blog post announcing the contest from Kodak and ActiveRain.
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