September 20, 2001

You asked for personal stories about September 11th, so here is my take on it. I live in Wilmington, Massachusetts, about 20 miles north from Logan Airport in Boston. I've been touched by the tragedy through friends and friends of friends. I am a co-leader of a group called Mothers and More (stay-at-home moms) and I attended our bi-weekly meeting last week which we decided to hold despite the tragedy. In the small group that showed up, a number of moms were touched by the tragedies.  One woman’s husband was good friends with pilot John Ogonowski. She said she had been to his farm many times and that he truly was a good man whose job may have been flying airplanes but whose lifelong love was farming. I'm sure many UWEC graduates can relate to that. This woman also said that his daughters look so much like him that at least they can have that piece of their father with them. Other mothers noted that their children had been in kindergarten with another victim’s daughter. Others knew acquaintances on the flight who worked with their husbands. In all, probably 20 of our 50 members were touched personally.

As a city Boston is mourning but we are also grief-stricken that so much of this pain started at our airport, in our backyard. I flew on United into Logan on Labor Day, and I'm sure some of the gate agents I talked to and the ticketing agents who checked my baggage had friends on those planes, and are feeling guilt over what originated here. I am not sure when I’ll fly again - I’ve had friends already swear they would not go to Logan ever again. It’s a different world here.

I have a friend who up until a few months ago was living here in the Boston suburbs. He took a new job in New York City and was enjoying life until last week. He said he was surprised when his subway skipped the World Trade Center stop and instead went to Wall Street. He exited the subway and walked past the WTC, only to see debris start to fall. He said after gawking like so many in the street, he decided it was best that he moved on. Six minutes later the first tower collapsed, and from his office three blocks away he watched the tower come down. He’s convinced most of the people who were gawking along with him didn’t survive.

My husband and I decided in March of 2000 to move to the East coast because it is his home and he wanted to leave the Midwest. It’s amazing how life has changed here now. Instead of relishing how close we are to New York and Washington, DC (where my in-laws live), we wonder how close we are to the next ground zero. I was in the Twin Towers in December 1998, visiting Broadway’s Half-Price Ticket Booth, and I remember thinking how massive the structures were. The lobby was decked out in holiday glitter and people were upbeat as they snapped up cheap tickets to Miss Saigon and On The Town. I guess that’s how I'll always remember the World Trade Center - not as a place of destruction and sadness, but as somewhere you could buy a ticket, get a view of the city, or shop in the underground concourses.

On a sadder note, I am very upset to learn that there has been harassment of various students on the UWEC campus. Although diversity at UWEC was never that prominent, I am shocked and saddened to think that people there would retaliate against those who are different. Patriotism is not shown through intolerance - it is marked by unity, a common goal, and the love of our country and its people. America needs to come together and show its strength, not give into the weaknesses of hatred and revenge against those who are innocent. As a proud alumnus I am disheartened by these acts and hope they are few and far between. Do not taint the pain of others by inflicting more yourself. We are all innocents here.

Peace,

Kristine Roll Blum ’93 (B)
Wilmington, Mass.