In Honor and Memory
I wish us all Peace of mind. Peace of Nation. Just Peace.
I've changed this post about a dozen times now, because nothing I say can truly give justice to the significance this day merits. I just don't have the words. My heart is heavy with the loss we suffered as a nation.
I invite you all to share your stories. Where you were. How you cope. Whatever you'd like to share with the rest of us.
For those who are curious, our friend Tella supplies the answer to what happened inside the Big Brother 2 House on September 11, 2001.
Written by Tella
I was into BB from the very beginning and have a friend who works for Moonves...
BB2 was still going on when 9/11 happened. Will, Nicole and Monica were still in the house. It was a Tuesday and that show was pre-empted... the HGs had no clue. The same for the Thursday show. They were not told about what had happened until Thursday since the usual Live Show would not happen. They were not told the severity or the casualty numbers... because Monica's cousin was in the WTC and missing. They didn't have a show until later in the week... because all air traffic was halted until the 16th, and Julie was stuck in NYC (as was my friend) due to having been there for the 10th and the Michael Jackson Special aired on CBS. Julie was back in LA for the Sunday eviction of Monica since private (known) planes were once again allowed in the air. Public transportation was halted until the 18th. Upon leaving the house Monica was informed more about details.
BB's policy about letting HGs know about serious matters such as losing a family member has shifted some and DOR is now an option. At the time... Monica did not leave the house because nobody knew that her cousin was dead. This was established later on.
Hope that helps.
Here is the clip of Monica and the others being notified, captured by anetworklive:
posted by CarolynBBDish @ 8:40 PM
37 Comments:
Thank you Carolyn for the recap.. I did not start watching BB until season 3 but I did hear bits and pieces of what happened on the show that week... thank you...
I remember that particular show quite well. Thank you for sharing with everyone that wasn't yet a BB fan.
Kelly in MI
I remember being angry that they were not told.
I probably watched that season, but when the events unfolded, I turned into a news junkie. I couldn't stop watching the news coverage and completely forgot about everything else for weeks.
It is now 9:41 here in NYC. I work across the street from the fallen towers. I think everyone around here feels as if they have something stuck on their chest today. The sky is gray and it is raining, I think even the sky is sad. It is a very strange feeling today. I just needed to talk for a bit to kind of feel better inside.
Thanks for time and space.
anon@9:41 here in NYC -
You are not alone. The rest of the country is here to support you and somehow hope that we can ease your burden by taking it on ourselves.
Today is a little bittersweet personally for me. I so agree with Carolyn, we need to not only remember today, but yesterday, and the serenity that was stolen from us in that 24 hour time span.
I am originally from NY, Long Island first & then Brooklyn & Queens for a short stint. Most of my family (cousins) remain there as well. I fortunately did not lose a loved one on this day, but my cousin Francesco (Frankie) was paralyzed from the chest down after being crushed by the falling 2nd tower. We all thought we had lost him that day and the fear that was in our veins is indescribeable. We spent over 37 hours trying to find out if he was alive or not and then was notified he was but in critical condition.
I was working in Boston that day for an asset management firm, and we were all called into our main conference room where the large screen tv was. We watched the 2nd plane hit live and a room filled with well over 200 people gasped in unison and then sheer silence.
Roughly 20 minutes later, we were evacuated from our building by the police and swat was even called because directly above us on the 19th floor was the British Consulate, therefore a major point of attack as well. The chaos that followed was surreal, and I still feel to this day like I can barely remember how I got out of that building.
My mother and 2 brothers and I immediately drove to NY as we didn't know what else to do, and that is where we stayed until Frankie was found.
I am so thankful he is still with us, and his beautiful and grateful heart is too, even though so much was taken from him that day. He only sees that he was spared and refuses to self medicate with pity. He is one of my heroes......
As for so many, the 11th only marked the beginning of a very long emotional and frightening day. I sincerely can say that my family wasn't quite right for well over a year, but we were closer than ever due to it as well.
3 years ago we began a healing ritual of sorts, and here is what we do. At 8:46 a.m., we all schedule a conference call from NY here to Boston, and roughly anywhere from 33-41 of us cousins/aunts/uncles call in and stay silent on the line for the first minute. Then we spend the next 15 minutes or so saying a prayer to our Lord and telling one another we are loved.
May seems odd to some, but it does help us heal, and I look forward to that small ray of light in my life on a day like this. It's the 11th and therefore dark, but at 8:46 we turn on a light.
I healed this morning a little, and I hope others did as well. I want to say to everyone here, it's a great pleasure and honor to be able to speak with my "unmet friends" and share the feeling that humanity, love & compassion does still exist amongst those that do not know one another.
Much love from my family to yours,
Alida
I remember that week of the show. BB2 was the first season I ever saw.
I also went to NYC a few weeks after and landed in the New Jersey airport that was involved on the 11th.
It looked like a military zone.
Me to Cindy, I was glued to the news for weeks also. I'll never ever forget that day, I had just came home from dropping my son off at school and wanted to straight back up there and bring him home and for weeks I didnt want to send him to school, thats how paranoid I had got. Living in the heart of the city (Toronto) I just kept thinking it was going to happen here to, our airpace had been shut down also in Canada and close to 300 planes were diverted and landed here. I watched the very touching tributes this morning on TV both from the US and Canada and I am still in tears and glad I can come here read and share stories and I thankyou for that. Tonight the NewYork firemen will be honoured here in Toronto at the Blue Jays/Yankees game and 2 Toronto boys who lost their dad that day will be on the field also to throw the first ball which I think is a very beautiful thing to do. Bless the USA, CANADA and the world on this day. Innoromata/Alita, I just want to say I understand the silence and prayer you do each year and it really does help. My son and I do it every August 11th for 4 women who died in a subway crash we were in 12 years ago, my son and I were lucky to survive after being trapped in it for 3 hours. I wish everyone here today a pleasant day and again thankyou and Innoromata, bless you and your family.
Lived in DC for it. As we first saw the smoke on the TV and realized we weren't looking at footage of New York anymore, my partner had to leave me to go against the flow of panicked commuters getting out to go towards the madness to work. Unlike most people, the unfolding events made his going to work more important.
When I said goodbye, I didn't know if I'd see him again.
I've re-lived that day enough times in both waking and sleeping hours.
I rather wish I could leave it behind now.
But, sadly, for a million reasons, I cannot.
As for BB2, rather than spend every moment thinking about actual tragedy and lose my mind, I did chose to wonder what it must be like in there and how they would deal with it. Would they just let them out and call it a day?
Of course, we found out later what they did. And, most odd of all, the first or second part of the final HOH competition was held (probably happened before but hadn't aired) but wasn't aired.
Either it was shown a week or two after the competition was over, or it was put online. (My brother-in-law hunted to down. I was no longer interested.)
The final vote was bizarre with most folks not really wanting to participate in the finale, considering the recent events. Kent even said that this entire ceremony was ridiculous as he cast his vote.
What's that curse about, "May you live in interesting times"?
Thank you Carolyn ! My husband an I with my daughter 6 at the time were in N.J for my niece's wedding . My family of cops u know firemen as family! My daughters first flight saw the tower's comming in met firemen who she would never see again ! We had stayed longer for a needed vacation. We flew back home on the 9/9/01 .So by the grace of god! My Nephew was just of the boat heading to Tower 2 85th floor > He saw it hit he had been running late...He was ok ! My family will always remember ... The Firemen and Police officers who never came back!I am here to remember them all .Please Never Forget! Because There But For the Grace of God go I!
What does DOR mean? I keep hearing it. It's difficult enough to try to keep up with all of the shorthand lingo as it is but I haven't yet found the meaning of DOR. A little help?
danny - dor means drop on request, also known as a ve or voluntary eviction... here are more acronym definitions, in our FAQs.
It was my Junior year of HS. I was in my second period, American History class. We were out in the hall, getting ready to do a mock trial of the Christopher Columbus (for taking the indian's land). Anyways, someone came out and told us the towers were hit. Me, never have heard of these "towers" said well, they're just towers. They said, no, people work in them. I never will forget that feeling that came over me. We wrote a paper for that class. The teacher made us write how we felt, where we were and all things like that. It was a good project so that we could keep it and in the future remember what had happened....if any of us could forget!
Jeannie - thank you so much love. It really DOES help doesn' it? It's almost as though we somehow get to take back a little of that day with some form of hope......
Alida
I still remember that day as if it were yesterday.
It was my Senior Year of High School, and i was in my first period class...computer ha!
The bells were about to ring to dismiss us to period 2. Before that our Principal came over the PA and was talking, really wasnt paying attention...you know...i thought it was typical stuff. Then he starts saying "dont let the tragic events in nyc disrupt your day" or something to that effect.
Well of course on our way to period 2 (calculus) every tv was turned on and we were glued to the TV, and we also saw the 2nd plane hit, and the first building collapse!
Im from sugarland, tx, and I took this a lot harder than most people in my town. I love NYC with all my heart, im obsessed with it. I will be moving there in about 3 months or so to live life and try to pursue a broadway career.
During the 4th period i had an off period so i went to the front office to be a runner. So many parents were coming to take their kids out of school. 85% of the kids being taken out were of middle eastern decent. And at first I didnt get it! Why are they taking them out? we are in sugarland...but i think everyone was on edge and no one knew what anyone was capable of doing and blaming innocent people just b/c they are from that area...
That march we (the choir) were going to NYC to sing at Carnegie Hall and i had a SOLO!! I was so excited, but obviously that trip was cancelled...at the time i was so selfish about it...gah i wanted to go so bad, sit me next to an afghanistan man, i didnt care, thats how much i love that city (that i have never been too), but now that i look at it, it just wouldnt have been right to be there at that time...
Where were you the morning of September 11th has replaced where were you when JFK was shot...
I have so much more to say...but I will stop for now! thanks for this great blog Carolyn! Much love to all my BB fans!
~Kent
Oy 9/11 ):, I had just moved from DC (working at the Pentagon) to Jersey (@30 mins outside NYC) in July 2001...My now husband worked on 45th St. just a couple blocks away and since I was in the Army I was on scene right away...That is possibly the saddest day I have ever had in my entire life. Yet the outrage continues while 1000's of soldiers are dying everyday in this useless war.
I know this is a BB discussion board but I realized this week that my activism has taken a back seat to BB (How sad) and I am really happy that it is coming to an end. Go Dick&Dani!!!!
Thank you Carolyn for all of your hard work, you are very much appreciated and also Thank You for taking time to give a special moment for 9/11. I have spoken with everyone I know in NY today and they say it is a gray there today...It is gray here in TN also. I think this will always be a Gray day. Thanks for the vent.
I was safe on the ground in Florida, having flown the day before and I was heading to a job with a co-worker when we heard on the radio that something was unfolding in NYC.
When we got to the job site we joined others watching the horror unfolding. At the site there was a gentleman that had a son working in one of the World Trade Center towers. It was agonizing watching unfold and being a part of his anguish as he went through trying to reach him or his family that still lived in the NJ/NY area. His son did make it down from the tower ok and called his father. Oh the joy of that phone call. I cannot describe for you the pure, raw emotion of the relief when he received that call.
Meanwhile I was concerned as my wife was in the air and on an airplane flying from Baltimore to Denver as it was unfolding. I was worried since two of the planes involved were from the company that she flies for and no one knew how many more were going to be involved. There were rumors during that time that other flights were not responding and that there might be threats from the air to buildings in Chicago, LA and San Fran. To tell you that I was on pins and needles as it all unfolded was well, the understatement of the year.
After she was safely on the ground and had called me and the news stories started to unfol about what happened on the planes did the gravity of the peril that they all were in while in the sky hit me. They had been notified and warned while in flight of the peril in the skies and imagine not knowing if you as a crew or the cockpit were going to be rushed or who if any were hijackers on board.
It wasn't until later and some of the details came out that they found out how inadequate their training in regards to hijackers was. They had been trained to be totally passive when dealing with hijackers.
As you can imagine a tough day in our house as my wife had flown with a number of the crew members on some of those doomed flights.
We will NEVER forget.
i was in school in second period that day. are teachers werent suppose to tell us but are art teacher did. she didnt think it would be right to keep it from us that day. i remember it like it was yesterday. we watched the second plane hit.and Innoromata/Alida i think that is great what you and your family do every year. that truly does help we used to do that in school every year. this day is going to be a gray day. but well will always remember this day. god bless everyone of you and your familys. stay safe. god bless the troops. we will never forget the people that died in 9/11. i want to thank everyone for letting me share my thoughts with you guys. it is good to have people like yall in my life. we have never met but yet we can talk to each other and understand what each other is going thourgh. again i want to thank everyone for listening to me. god bless you guys and your familys.
jamie in ma
They say that time heals all wounds,but this is one wound that wont be healed for some time to come. My husband is over in Iraq to support and defend our country as well as other brave men and women, as we remember that day lets also remember the men and women who are over there to defend our country. We need to show the world that we wont stand by and take that again...Jan
I so remember that day and still think of it EVERY day. I remember BB was still on and I wondered what was going on in the house, if they had told them about what happened. I work at the Kennedy Space Center, and they sent us home for 3 days till they accessed security. I watched every bit of news for several weeks and was happy when BB came back on so I could be distracted for a short time.
I've noticed that the youngest view here were people in high school so I thought I would give my experiance.
I was in 8th grade. I was brushing my teeth when my mother told me to come look at the news. It showed the gaping hole in the first tower. I had no clue what this meant and had never seen the buildings before. I asked what happened and my mom thought is was just an accident. That was about the time that the second plane hit. All I could say was "Oh my gosh!"
I had learned about terrorists in school but I never really understood what that word meant.(I live in a very small town of about 300 so even bullies were hard to come by) My mother took me to school and she went into the office and told my principal what happened. They didn't know as they all get to the school by 7:30. The teachers put the 7th and 8th grades into one room and turned on the news. We all watched without really understanding what was going on. We saw the towers fall without understanding what it meant. I remember seeing my male teacher with silent tears falling down his face as the towers fell. Even then it didn't hit me. I didn't even find out about the pentagon and Flight 93 until that night.
About a week later, the school had a ceremony where we raised the flag at half staff. It was actually about a year later that I fully realized what happened that day. It still lays heavy on my heart when I think about how the people in New York and the families of all those involved must have felt.
I still pray for our soldiers and veterans every day. They are the ones who are dealing with the aftershocks of that day in the worst way. I hope that the families of those who died have somehow found a way to heal.
Sorry for writing so much. God Bless.
Jamie in MA - thank you love. I echo your feelings and even something as simple as knowing you can have a place to go to, where people you have never even seen face to face will allow you to lean on them for a moment, well that's is something else. Everyone here in my opinion are the salt of the earth and I wish I could surround myself with folks like you all the time.......
Jan - thank YOU and yours for what you're sacrificing for us. My uncle just came back from his second 19 month tour and these brave soldiers need to be acknowledged every single day for their bravery and compassion
Carolyn - well mama, it's to you we have to say thank you as well. Daily you enetertain us and keep us fueled with our itty bitty obsession we got going here. But more importantly, on a day like today, leave it to you to bring all the unmet friends together like this. You my dear, are simply a priceless woman and I am grateful to have "known" you......
Alida
anon@10:56am -
honey, you have nothing to apologize for. thank you for sharing your story with all of us here.
on the contrary, i'm so sorry this is what you're growing up with.
Alida, Jeannie, Everyone..
As if the teenager didn't have me bawling enough..
now that i do the math... not a teenager anymore, perhaps. still... formative years spent under this...
:::sigh:::
Lol Carolyn. I am 19 now. I did realized that I forgot to sign it. Thank you for putting up this post. I believe that it helps.
Lindsay
It DOES help Lindsay, you're so right. That cannot be expressed enough.
Truth? When I logged on this morning to start my BB day, it was shortly before I was to go into my family conference call.
It really put a lump in my throat to see the post you left Carolyn, it did. It touched me more than I expected, knowing full well what call I was about to make and why.
Your good people mama, and we're better for being here.
Alida
I grew up in NY, and we would go down to the towers to see my dad. I remember getting dizzy looking up at them from below. They were so majestic.
I was at work already in Dallas at 7:46am on 9/11. My mother called me saying a Cessna had hit the tower, and I joked about how a pilot could miss that! Then she called and told me the second plane had gone in, and that it was a passenger jet, not a Cessna, and I said we were being attacked. I got subsequent calls from my sister about the Pentagon, and flight 93. I was working at the time for one of the companies that had a plane hijacked, in their travel department, and the chaos and fear that was felt that day was indescribable. There was unbelievable shock and sadness, but also a numbness. It is so hard to describe, and not something I think any one of us will ever forget.
My biggest memory from that day was going home that afternoon, and my mom meeting me in the driveway. I just walked to her, hugged her, and started crying. Even at 28, I wanted my mom to tell me everything was going to be all right.
I know we will never forget what happened, and there will always be the where were you stories, and that is how it should be.
Thank you Carolyn for posting that recap. I was not a fan of BB until the year after 9/11, but it is interesting to read about what happened to them that week as well.
This is the link to the video of BB2 on 9/11...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6omREKjPlo
anon@12:30 thank you. i posted it to the main blog.
Firstly, thanks again to Carolyn for giving all of us a place to post our thoughts on this somber day. Secondly, I am grateful to all of the people who were kind enough to share their personal stories/memories about the events of that tragic day. Living all my life in New York/New Jersey and having many family members and friends working in or around the towers, my memories of that day are a little chaotic to say the least. Hours spent waiting to hear word from a loved one as to whether they had made it through. I woke up today expecting to have an awful day, heading down an hour and a half to Trenton to begin serving State Grand Jury duty. I felt resentful that the courts would even be open for business on this day. However, upon hearing the judge and accompanying police officers speaking about those who have lost their lives for the freedom which our country represents... I was truly touched. After a moment of silence was observed for the victims and for the troops lost defending our country, I realized that what I was doing today was much more important than I had originally anticipated. We will never forget those who have been taken from us and we will never stop fighting for our way of life. God Bless all of you.
Thankyou for the video. (Will looks so young..and tan.)
I remember.. I was in fifth grade, getting ready for school. I was only a few months past 10 years old. We saw smoke just pouring rapidly over buildings, as my grandma called and said to watch the news.
Nobody I knew personally was hurt.
I only cried once.
But I guess you could say everything changed forever. Just becuse I don't have tears doesn't mean I don't feel the pain - Why?
Why would someone ever do something to hurt so many people?
My thoughts and prayers are with all those brave souls that lost their lives on September 11 2001, as well and their families and loved ones.
I was a bit surprised when I first saw my comment on the main page. Strange.
It's been nice reading everybody's experiences on here and it shows we are alike even when we disagree and like different people in the game.
I absolutely appreciated the video clip from BB2. It brought back memories, and even today I choked up when Monica was notified. Such amazing strength.
Thank you!
I know I have already posted my story as anonymous, but I just watched the video for the first time,as I was not a BB fan yet. All I can say is WOW! I got chills the moment the lady started telling Monica about the attack. How hard it would have been to be in the house!
On a lighter note, I would like to take the time to say, time has been good to Julie Chen and the house. Julie looks better now than she did then. And, the house does as well.
Thank you all for sharing your thoughts. I'm glad we can all come here and talk.
Amanda~
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