Women find strength in face of fear
By Kathy McCarty
Staff Writer
The events of Sept. 11, 2001, will forever be etched in our minds — memories forever stored and ready to replay at a moment’s notice — as the day that Americans came together to find strength and courage following a senseless act of terrorism.
Here are the stories of four local women and how they set aside their own fears in order to comfort family and friends in the days and weeks that followed.
Firefighter’s wife reassures sons
For Laurie McLellan, wife of Ashland Firefighter/EMT Harvey McLellan, Sept. 11 is especially vivid in her mind. She knows the uncertainty loved ones feel whenever the alarm goes off and understands full well that with each call comes the chance of injury or worse. The mother of two boys, she found herself having to explain the situation to her sons and reassuring them that what happened in New York City was not going to happen to them.
“I think 9-11 made us, as parents, more protective, keeping a closer watch on our families, locking doors and emphasizing to our children not to talk to strangers – not even in a small town,” said McLellan.
She was quick to let her sons know they were safe.
“Aaron was in third grade and our oldest, Shawn, was in ninth. Shawn understood more. We told the boys we were safe and there was nothing to be afraid of. The bad men wouldn’t be able to hurt us. Aaron had questions and wanted to know why someone would hurt people like that. I explained that I didn’t even understand why so many people died that day. I told him there was no reason for it but reassured him we were safe,” McLellan said.
For the McLellans, like so many other firefighter families, they were particularly mindful of the loss of numerous first-responders that day.
“We prayed for those who passed away and kept hoping others would be found alive. The number 343 will forever be etched in our minds, as that was the number of FDNY (New York Fire Department) firefighters who died that day,” said McLellan.
“I remember everything I was doing at every moment from the first plane hitting to both towers coming down,” added McLellan.
Fear no match for family unity
Tammy Ladner-Scott, of Presque Isle, said it wasn’t until that day that she understood why so many people can remember what they were doing when President Kennedy was gunned down. Her memories include many of her children and the days that followed.
“I used to think when people would say they remembered where they were when JFK was assassinated that they were just weird. But I will never forget anything about that morning — when it happened, what I was doing, what the weather was, how the air smelled outside. Germaine (her oldest child) was in Cunningham at the time and they called the entire school together and (teacher) Kevin Sipe talked to them about what was happening,” said Ladner-Scott.
She also recalled her son, Adam, was at Zippel Elementary School, although she didn’t recall how that school handled the news.
“Rachel (her youngest child) was in pre-K, so she was pretty unaffected by it. Dick (her husband at the time) had gone to Canada that morning for a four-day conference and they closed the borders and he couldn’t come home for a couple of days and that caused some anxious moments for the kids and myself,” she said.
She and her children found solace with others.
“I remember that night that we (she and her kids) joined many, many people and local clergy at Riverside Park for a special gathering. It was a time for everyone to pray, to talk about their fears together, to just kind of be with each other to share our fears and the loss of what we all, as Americans, lost that day,” said the mother of three.
Her son was particularly shaken by the events of the day.
“I remember that night Adam was really scared — not really understanding how far away New York City was — and was scared that something would happen to us here. I remember spending a lot of time just hugging him that night and talking quietly about all his fears and trying to make him feel safe in his world,” she said.
Activities that prior to Sept. 11 would have taken place without a second thought were thought of much differently after the tragedy, Ladner-Scott said.
“The next year we took the kids to Disney. It was their first flight after 9-11 and Adam and Germaine held hands when we took off. It just kind of made me sad that we hadn’t thought to talk about that aspect of flying with them,” said Ladner-Scott.
Mother sees world forever changed
Danette Madore, who serves as a counselor at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, was working at the Maine School of Science and Mathematics in Limestone at the time.
“The secretary called all of us into the conference room to watch the news as it broke. I remember feeling real fear, knowing that our world had changed forever — and wondering what on Earth our nation’s response to this would be,” she said.
The mother of two said though it was difficult, she held her own terror in check in order to help her children deal with their own.
“My son was 11, almost 12, and really didn’t want to speak about it too much. We watched the news together, and while I don’t remember the specific questions he posed, I do remember answering only what was asked. I tried very hard — and somewhat successfully — to mask my fears from him, but was truthful, if quite succinct, with answers to his questions,” Madore said.
Madore said it was a bit more difficult to comfort her daughter, who was away at college in upstate New York.
“My daughter was at Elmira College and was of course quite upset,” said Madore. “They (college personnel) did a wonderful job of bringing the campus together as a community and offering any support they could.”
Enemies are bold but friends are stronger
Lisa Neal-Shaw, a reference librarian at the Mark & Emily Turner Memorial Library, said although her memories of the events are a bit clouded, due to having undergone surgery just prior to that day, other memories came flooding back to her of a trip to New York earlier that year.
“My memory of 9-11 will probably sound almost sacrilegious, but I had just come home from surgery and was under the influence of Percocet. I really wasn’t even comprehending what I was seeing and hearing as reality,” said Neal-Shaw.
In the time that followed, she began thinking of people she’d met on an earlier trip to New York City.
“I had been in mid-town Manhattan earlier that year, and later when I was in a more sensible frame of mind, I wondered whatever became of some of the people I had encountered there — the bagel shop owner who asked if we would ‘keep an eye on’ his shop because he was about to meet his new little grandson for the first time when his daughter pulled up in a taxi out front, the elderly gentleman who spent his days on the streets with a smile on his face and had two cats who were his constant companions,” Neal-Shaw said.
Neal-Shaw said questions still haunt her.
“Were these people injured? I’ll probably never know, but I remember those chance encounters vividly,” she said.
She indicated that the fear wasn’t limited to those in the United States.
“Later that night I spoke on the telephone with some friends in Australia, one of whom — Anthony Field — was at the time and still is performing with the children’s entertainment group The Wiggles. Anthony and his brother Patrick were together watching all this unfold on television and expressing their deepest concern for all their friends in the USA. One of them even expressed concern that they too were under attack when lightning hit the Sydney Harbor Bridge,” Neal-Shaw said.
Neal-Shaw said she’s used the experience to teach her children the value of family and friends.
“My long-term take on this and what I’ve passed on to my children was this: The enemy is bold, but our friends are so much bigger and stronger. I believe — I hope — that they are able as young adults now to look past the hate of a few and see the greater good and friendship that makes up the world,” said Neal-Shaw.
