My September 11th
September 11, 2001 is a day surrounded with many strong emotions for me, just not in the same way it is for the rest of the country. On September 10, 2001 my grandfather fell and broke his hip, he was 81 years old. Until that moment I did not realize that anything like that could happen to my grandfather, he was healthy and strong. He still possessed a head full of jet-black hair. My grandfather was (and still is) the only man who loved me unconditionally a pure love, nurturing, supportive, quiet and super strong. He saved me from myself, when I needed it the most. He let me find my own way when I needed to learn for myself, his trust in me was enough to turn myself around, when no amount to bitching, prodding or complaining would have work. He backed away and said “I will always love you, you will always have a home with me and I trust that you will turn out fabulous”, and I couldn’t let him down.
September 11, 2001 my grandfather’s hip replacement surgery was a complete failure, and after the surgery he went into complete organ failure including heart failure. I spent the entire day yelling, screaming and crying at the health care providers. I had to track down the cardiologist who was glued in front of the television watching a plane hit the world trade center for the 500th time. I had to storm into the surgeons break room, screaming for the anesthesiologist. After they stabilized my grandfather, every time it was time to take his vitals or administer pain medication, I had to drag the nurse on duty away from the television to perform their functions. More often than not, they couldn’t drag themselves away from the television and I took his vitals and gave him his medication. If he would of died, my family would have had an amazing malpractice suit on their hands.
I have never been so angry and so frustrated at an entire staff in my life. The staff was so concerned with watching the horror that was occurring over 2500 miles away that they almost let my grandfather die. I did not watch the towers fall again, again and again. I did not listen to possible other terrorist plots, false reports of car bombs and I did not experience any of the uncertainty and panic the rest of America was going through. I have no strong emotions around the attacks of September 11, 2001. I feel minor sympathy for the friends and families of the people that lost their lives on that day, and that is about it.
My grandfather recovered. It was a long road, and I spent the next two months at his side. He lost his life 2 years later in a car accident; a 16-year-old girl broadsided his vehicle at 55 mph while reaching down to pick up her cell phone….
September 11, 2001 my grandfather’s hip replacement surgery was a complete failure, and after the surgery he went into complete organ failure including heart failure. I spent the entire day yelling, screaming and crying at the health care providers. I had to track down the cardiologist who was glued in front of the television watching a plane hit the world trade center for the 500th time. I had to storm into the surgeons break room, screaming for the anesthesiologist. After they stabilized my grandfather, every time it was time to take his vitals or administer pain medication, I had to drag the nurse on duty away from the television to perform their functions. More often than not, they couldn’t drag themselves away from the television and I took his vitals and gave him his medication. If he would of died, my family would have had an amazing malpractice suit on their hands.
I have never been so angry and so frustrated at an entire staff in my life. The staff was so concerned with watching the horror that was occurring over 2500 miles away that they almost let my grandfather die. I did not watch the towers fall again, again and again. I did not listen to possible other terrorist plots, false reports of car bombs and I did not experience any of the uncertainty and panic the rest of America was going through. I have no strong emotions around the attacks of September 11, 2001. I feel minor sympathy for the friends and families of the people that lost their lives on that day, and that is about it.
My grandfather recovered. It was a long road, and I spent the next two months at his side. He lost his life 2 years later in a car accident; a 16-year-old girl broadsided his vehicle at 55 mph while reaching down to pick up her cell phone….
posted by Spin_Doc1 at
10:24 AM
5 Comments:
Visiting over from Naive's blog. All I can say is I'm sorry. How horrible. Hugs
By
Nelly, at 11:02 AM
Spinner, my heart is with you today. My grandfather was my favorite person ever - ...
I too have a personal crisis tied to 9/11. I don't speak of it much but you'll understand when I say it is the foundation and the strongest of the many cables which ties Naive and I.
Just know my heart is with you.
By
clew, at 11:38 AM
Hugs Spinner. I can clearly relate to your conflicting emotions over 9/11.
My neighbors mother, who was back home in MN, suffered a major heart attack that day and because our air traffic was completely shut down, he didn't make it home before she died.
To this day, he doesn't want to speak about any of the events of that awful day.
That's not to say that either of us would have reacted differently on Sept 11, but our own personal griefs were bigger to us than what was happening nationally. Which is a very sad statement in and of itself.
In short, I understand what you are feeling. I'll be thinking of you today too!
By
Michelle, at 12:20 PM
Nelly,
Welcome, and it was horrible, thanks.
Clew and Naive,
I was partially raised by my grandfather and his death was very hard on me. Thank you for your kind words.
By
Spin_Doc1, at 7:02 PM
I'm sorry for your loss. Thank you for sharing your story though. While I am weary of the 9/11 coverage and recoverage, I try to never forget the events. I further want to know why they happened.
But that doesn't mean everyone else does.
But you point out the waves of effect that are ignored in our media. The other things that happened that day due to the coverage, the events.
Again, I'm so sorry you lost your grandpa to a careless cell phone driving person - and almost lost him due to 9/11 but in a different way than people who would hear that would think.
By
ZooooM, at 11:03 AM
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