Mary J. McCoy-Dressel

Sensual western romance. Heartwarming stories. Strong family ties.
Mary J. McCoy-Dressel
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    • My Day on 9/11

      Posted at 11:49 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on September 10, 2011

      I’m sure we will all remember where we were on September 11, 2001.

      This is my story…


      I worked at an elementary school. After being there a few minutes on the morning of September 11, 2001, I started my day like I did every other day. I happened to be walking past one of the rooms without students, and I wondered why teachers had a TV on, set to actual TV and not a video. We weren’t usually allowed to watch TV in our classrooms. I didn’t pay any attention to it after walking by, but wondered why the teachers and aides were gathered around it.

      I went about my morning going from classroom to classroom checking on students, and when I was in one of the 5th grade classes, one of the teacher assistants came up and handed me a note. The note said one plane had hit the World Trade Center in New York City, and then a second plane hit. My first thought was sorrow for the people on the planes, what those people went through up to the moment of impact. As I read further, the note said it was a suspected terrorist attack. There were rumors of more  planes which turned out not to be rumors.

      My widened eyes must have given me away, and I must have gasped. I’m not sure what I did, but the kids in the desks near me all asked what was wrong. I looked up at the other teacher who had just read the same thing. We were so stunned, but didn’t say anything to the kids at that time.

      At 11:10 I went out to lunch and turned on the radio in my vehicle. They were just replaying the 2nd tower falling. Can anyone really describe the feeling, knowing there were people on the planes, and all the people in the towers? Reading this writing again, I can feel the same terror, the same gut-wrenching sorrow I had then. It was an attack on our country, an attack on my AMERICA!

      My school went into a lock down. No one could get in, no one could go out. But we had to man the doors because parents came and picked up their kids. We couldn’t stop them, of course. We hardly had any students left in the building that day. I can understand because the first thing I did was call my boys, and they’re grown, but it didn’t matter. I wanted to know they were okay and to hear their voices.

      We got word from the Board of Education that we couldn’t tell the kids. At the end of the day, the principal made an announcement to the students, saying when they went home they’d see and hear some things in the news. She told them to go straight home, but they were safe, and what happened didn’t happen here. Many of our students would have to go home to an empty house. Horrific images would probably be the first thing they’d see when they turned on the TV. She wanted them to know they were okay.

      That night I was out, and since I lived near an airport, I was accustomed to seeing many planes in the sky all the time. But not September 11th. The sky was empty. Very strange and kind of frightening. Way high in the sky though, I saw one plane, and the feeling was so eerie, because I knew it could only be a military jet because nothing else was allowed in the air. Later at home, glued to the TV, tears in my eyes, I watched until I couldn’t stay awake any longer. It took days for the shock to go away, but I couldn’t stop watching day after day. It was like watching a horror film over and over, and I don’t like horror films.

      The next day at school, the 5th graders were upset with us because we couldn’t tell them what happened the day before. They felt they should have been told. I agree with them in a way, but it would have upset and scared them. In the days to follow we would hear from different kids saying they had relatives, friends, or knew of someone who had been on one of the planes or in the towers.

      Maybe this horror is something none of us will ever forget. It was an attack on my country. It was an attack against each of us. That’s my opinion, and this is what I was doing on September 11, 2001.

      I’ve turned off sharing buttons for this post. No need to reblog. Maybe I’m posting again for my own therapy.

      Posted in #AmWriting | 6 Comments | Tagged 9/11, horror, sadness, work, world trade center
    • Top Ten Things That Could Happen on Your Way to Work

      Posted at 1:37 am by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on August 12, 2009

      The Ten Worst Things That Could Happen On Your Way to Work

       
      glitter-graphics.com

      1.         You have to drive on twisty, curvy roads and the fog is so thick you can’t see past the front of your car.

       2         A deer runs out in front of you.

      3.         You hit the deer, but it gets up and runs off, unhurt.

      4.         A dog runs out in front of you after that.

      5.         You skidded out of the way to miss the dog and hit a parked car.

      6.         You sit and cry because you’re so happy the deer and dog are okay.

      7.         Your car quits running at a stop sign.

      8.         A mile from work, you realize you forgot to put on your pants/skirt under your coat.

      9.         You drove past the coffee shop while you noticed you didn’t have all your clothes on.

      10.       You forgot to put your teeth in.

      Posted in #AmWriting | 0 Comments | Tagged clothes, cry, dog, dog deer, dressed, drive, teeth, work, worst
    • Back to Work After Summer

      Posted at 5:39 pm by Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, on September 1, 2008

      Tomorrow I have to go back to work.  In Michigan, we don’t start until after Labor Day.  It’s supposed to promote tourism.  That might work if the gas prices weren’t so high now.  Anyway, I am returning after being laid-off.  In June I received a letter saying that there would be a lack of work for this school year; therefore, I wouldn’t be needed.  Okay, it was the third time in three years for me anyway, so it wasn’t a surprise.  I’ve only lived in West Michigan for four years.  Sometimes I wonder why I left a twenty-six year stable job to come here.  I did it to marry a man who lives here.  Little did I know work would be so bad in this area.  Now, I take it one year at a time. 

      It will be good to go back and see friends and students.  I’m in a new position this year.  They received extra funds from Title 1; therefore, I get to return!  I haven’t slept in much so getting up early shouldn’t be a problem.  The problem will be going to bed at night.  I’m a night person, and a writer, and nighttime is when I write, mostly.  We didn’t go on vacation this summer, and I don’t have to leave lake property or a cabin in the woods to come back.  I shouldn’t have a problem at all.  That probably isn’t so with others who love their summer vacations, and the “no summer schedule” to give up.  Since I didn’t go wild all summer and didn’t do anything special, it won’t be hard to go back to work.  It will be hard to leave my writing, though. 

      MONEY!  That is one of my biggest motivations, other than loving the type of job I do.   Yes, I was laid-off, and I did apply for unemployment.  Guess what?  I missed it by seven cents.  So, all summer I didn’t receive unemployment conpensation.  I applied for an extension, which was recently reinstated.   Last week I was informed that I qualifed for an extension of unemployment benefits for eight weeks.  That’s four checks.  Now I’m going back to work.  Hmmm, how does this work?  I’ll know tomorrow when I call them.   There’s a form to fill out, too.   My employer received one.   How confusing that will be to them, knowing I am coming back to work, and filing for an extension.  Again, I wonder how this will work.  Will I receive it for the three weeks left of lay-off after they approved my extension?  I’ll find out tomorrow.   I’ll find out everything tomorrow, when I go Back to Work After Summer.

      Posted in #AmWriting | 0 Comments | Tagged extension, lay-off, Michigan, summer, title 1, unemployment, work
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    © Mary J. Dressel, Mary J. McCoy-Dressel, and Mary J. McCoy-Dressel Books, 2007 – 2023. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Mary J. McCoy-Dressel and Mary J. McCoy-Dressel Books with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

    • Daily Prompt: Canopy Walk
      Daily Prompt: Canopy Walk
    • Sharing Time with Family & Friends, or Not: Thanksgiving
      Sharing Time with Family & Friends, or Not: Thanksgiving
    • Revisions? Questions Answered
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