a family picture from Easter 1979
On the day of the TMI accident I went to the airport to pick up a friend who was then traveling to State College. As I drove into the airport with my 2 boys who were under the age of 3, there was something very different about the “steam” coming from the cooling tower. It was earlier in the day and as my friend and I both noticed all of the media arriving. We laughed that possibly they were covering her arrival and laughed it off.
While the seriousness of the accident increased, life here somehow went on.
The local media didn’t really cover this for quite a while and in fact a family member called us from Western PA about the accident. We had a death in the family and were planning to travel back for a funeral. We had just moved into a new home in Hampden Township in November and since we had small children, my husband and I decided that we would stay away. While the seriousness of the accident increased, life here somehow went on. We did discuss that we might never be able to enjoy our new home that we ultimately lived in for 24 years. They planted the grass for our yard during this time.
both noted how they saw few women and children anywhere.
My husband returned to his job in downtown Harrisburg. Sometime during the following week sirens went off and there was chaos for people trying to get out of the downtown. It was unnerving as apparently they went off in error.
Since my husband was alone he met one of our friends who had children the same age as ours. They ate dinner somewhere in Colonial Park and both noted how they saw few women and children anywhere.
I think the thing that I think about most is how no one really thought things would not be resolved and life went on here like nothing serious was happening.
Ruth Anne
our new home with the newly planted grass