Sunday, September 11, 2016

9.11.01

When 9-11 happened, we were in Hawaii on our honeymoon.  With the time difference from the east coast to Hawaii, we didn't hear about the attacks until after the towers fell.  I remember being in the shower and Ryan telling me "something happened."  It was on the news but it took us awhile to piece together what had been happening all morning.  Then we got a phone call from Ryan's supervisor telling him that all military were recalled to their bases.  Ryan was assigned to Barksdale AFB, in Shreveport, Louisiana at the time.  Since we were on an island, with all aircraft grounded, Ryan obviously could not recall.  He just had to check in daily with his squadron, but we spent the next week on Hawaii anyway since all flights were grounded.  And then when the airports did open, it it took us 3 very long days to get back to Louisiana, spending one night in LA and another night in the Memphis airport.  Ryan and I have some precious, sleep deprived memories from that trip. NIt was a crazy and chaotic time to be flying.  We did explore Oahu and have a great time, despite the uncertainty and sadness throughout the country following the 9-11 attacks.  One memory I have is standing on Waikiki Beach, watching wreaths being released into the ocean at sunset, to honor the lives lost that day.  A beautifully sad moment.

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