Snellville Remembers 9/11: Michelle Couch

Snellville Patch continues the conversation with local citizens to discuss their memories and feelings following the events of September 11, 2001. 

For many, remembering that day brings a time of reflection and introspection.  So much of who we are and who we have become is tied up in that day.  We recently caught up with Snellville businessowner Michelle Couch, owner of Blitz Communications.  Michelle was in the midst of difficult times herself, having just lost her sister the year before, and her job earlier that year.  Her father, a retired Naval Reservist, passed away two years later. 

Michelle Couch:
“I was at home, because I had just recently been laid off from what was my last ever corporate job.  Had I not been laid off, I actually would not have watched it from my 52’ big TV!  

“I was planted in front of my TV and watched the whole thing.  I was just frozen.  Frozen.  Numb and literally couldn’t believe my eyes.  I actually saw it when the plane hit the second tower.  That really was… it was literally like you were watching a movie.  I could not believe I was experiencing that, and I remember it making me feel so guilty because I was depressed about being laid off and not having a job.  

“I felt guilty for being depressed; in retrospect, watching what happened made me feel so stupid, because it was more monumental and horrific and tragic than what I had ever experienced in my life.  

“My father had served in the Naval Reserve for 30 years, so growing up I watched my father go into the reserve one weekend a month.  To me, that meant I was getting a big surprise when he got back from his two-week trip.  It brought back a lot of those memories of my father’s military service, and all the preparations that went into preparing for the weekend. 

"The only time I saw my father cry was at his military retirement ceremony.  I knew what his service meant to him.  He had retired just before Desert Storm.  His unit was one of the first deployed.  I can only imagine how helpless he must have felt. 

“I worked with Operation Love from Home back in 2006 or ’07. We shipped 25,000 cards overseas [to soldiers] for Christmas … I know that many of us may oppose the war or oppose how long it took or is taking. No matter what our opinions are as civilians, I know that every soldier who communicated with Operation Love from Home, they 100 percent believe we should be there. They totally believe in what they’re doing over there.

"I have to look at that and their opinion and trust it far beyond my own. They’re the ones who are there; they see it and live it; they are the ones seeing the sacrifices, so it’s not up to me to say this is how I feel and I’m right. One of my son’s best friends is over there right now. I know his mother is proud, and I am, too.”

Follow us over the next few days as we capture more memories and experiences of your friends and neighbors. If you would like to be interviewed regarding your experiences and thoughts, contact Crystal Huskey at patchreportercrystal@gmail.com.