Kingdom Knock

I remember working at Bank of America. There were many rumors floating about as to what was going on. Then when we heard the truth, the shock that came across everyone was silencing. We were dismissed early that day as it appeared many businesses were in our area because of the threat of an attack of the gas farm located just 2 minutes away from us and the fact the air port was 5 minutes away in the opposite direction. The fear that hits you that you may be attacked on American soil, what do we do if this turns to all out war. I must say my mind went a lot of places. That day I won't forget as I know many won't. It definitely hurt us as Americans. What's worst, we're still our own worst enemy in America considering we still have racism as well as a high rate of crime amongst our own communities.

Well i can tell you i was on vacation at the beach. Me and wifey had just gotten up and i grabbed the remote and flicked the televesion on. Surreal is the only word that comes to mind at that moment because the screen filled up with the twin towers on fire and my very first thought was .."is this a movie"??? Sittin their watching it unfold it seemed like it was in slow motion and the longer i watched the more this feeling of dread swept over me. One for the people that were there and directly being affected by this attack and two because in my mind this was the beginning of things in our nation and around the world changing forever! And as far as i can tell it truly was, from the patriot act, to the war,the state of our economy all came on the heels of this event, even to this day with capture of Bin laden behind us it feels like a nose dive that we have not ben able to reecoop from. For many it marks the Day the twin towers were destroyed,and the pentagon was attacked for me it marks the day that who we are as a people was forever changed!

This is a day I will never forget. I was working as an ISS Teacher at Paisley Middle School at the time. I was in the office when Ms. Glenn, the secretary, said that a small plane had hit the WTC. I didn't think much of it. Granted at this time, the Internet wasn't as much a mainstay as it is now. I had no kids in my class at the time so I decided to turn on the TV to see what she was referring to. Then...to make a long story short...my life was changed. To be honest I had never heard the name Osama Bin Laden before 9/11...but at that point, he was America's Jason Voorhees. The principal sent an email out to the teachers saying to not discuss this with the children but it was too late. Students were crying, asking me, "Mr. Crouch can you walk home with me? Are planes going to be crashing everywhere?" I wept internally...assuring them that everything okay, knowing that deep inside I was even fearful. I left that day and went immediately to my girlfriends house, and spent the rest of the day in shock. I wrote a poem that night went to sleep and prayed for America.

This date is bitter sweet for me. Me and my wife had recently got married and just beginning our NEW life together. Anticipating all the good times we were going to share and a bright future we planned for our family. And i can remember just a the year prior I didn’t want to get married or have children b/c of the state of the world. sighting that i didn’t want to raise kids in this type of world or be responsible for a wife and dealing with various misconceptions surrounding being black and married.
I received a phone call early that morning from my wife who was at work and she was crying and saying something that at first i could not make out what she was saying. All i was thinking was "Dang it somebody did something to my wife". After i got my bearings i realized she was telling to turn on the TV b/c a Plane just crashed into one of the Twin Towers.
I didn’t know what to expect when i turned on the TV and the initial reports was that it was an accident and then the 2nd plan crashed into the 2nd tower. I just watched in shock and speechless i can remember being numb to the point of not even hearing what they were saying on the TV. These were the Twin Towers. The pinnacle point of NY a well recognized monument building. the Place where Mighty Joe young fought for his love and met his demise. a place that i have visited walked by and became accustom to seeing daily either physically or in movies. And now they are falling.
As i continued to watch i didn’t realize the extent of the impact but i felt relief b/c none of my family lived in the city. Never the less i called my mother just to check on her anyway (she hates going to the city). Reached out to other various family members as well and was satisfied that they were all ok.
This was a start of a NEW life not just for me and my wife but for EVERYBODY world round, as reports came in from all over the place you could see the basic essence of humanity. No Black no White no Other just Humans. it was like the tower of Babel in reverse.
In the Days following this feeling of oneness became very clear and widespread to the point any stereotypes that i would put on like daily wardrobe was left in the draw like those pair of socks with a hole in it that you can’t get rid of.
I honestly feel that because of this catastrophe it created a huge awareness to the fact that life is short and relationships are lasting. because massive amounts of people began to improve their relationships all around. Relationship with family, friends, husbands, wives, God and themselves. This culmination i know branded a mindset within me that i would become the best husband to my wife and potentially the best father to forthcoming children. It’s just sad to think that it took an event such as this to catapult humanity to the realization that at the end of the day all we have is each other and loving each other is the best weapon against everything.
I just pray that now that time has passed and sentiments’ have faded that it does not take another event like this one to remind humanity of this.