Where were you on 9/11?

[4kiddies]

I was at work in the PA state Capitol building when the attacks happened. They sent us home when they realized that there was a still an unaccounted plane flying above PA--Flight 93.

[KidsHappen]

I was at home in WI. My hubby called after the first plane hit and I turned on the TV in time to see the second plane hit. I literally fell on the floor crying. I can still feel the punch-in-the-gut viseral pain of the moment.

[WishboneDawn]

When I first heard I was driving my husband to work but the bulk of my memories have to do with me at work. I worked at the Halifax airport, in a bookstore, and I went in early thinking it would be busy with all the planes that would be landing. It was actually the quietest I'd ever seen because no one was allowed off the planes until almost dark, most people who were flying out had heard the news and not come to the airport and staff was mostly watching the news. We usually made several thousand dollars a shift - we made $11 that shift.

 

Instead of selling books I was actually tracking down people who needed a place to stay. It was such a weird time after the planes hit because people I knew were shocked but also completely practical. Everyone I knew was heading home to make beds and tidy because we all assumed all those people being routed to Halifax (remember nothing could fly into the US) would need to be billetted out to local families.

 

That attitude that, okay, there's a tragedy but suck it up and start doing what needs to be done was such a maritime one. Gander, a tiny town in Newfoundland was the other airport to get a comparable number of planes and they had the same attitude. Get to work now, chat and cry later - People needed food and places to stay. I was getting calls from friends and families telling me they had room so most of my shift I tracked down the few stragglers in the airport that needed a place to go and hooked them up with my mom and her neighbour. Mom hosted an American couple and a Scottish grandmother for several days.

 

Most of the stranded were actually sent to hotels and shelters. 44, 000 people! When I left work that night I looked over the fence at the runway and all I could see was row after row after row of the tail fins of aircrafts. More planes then have ever and likely will ever be in our airport at one time.

 

I think the real feelings of sadness came after that shift was finished. Up until then I was mostly thinking about those who were stranded in Halifax.

[cathmom]

I was at home with my then 11 yo, 5 yo, and 3 yo. My oldest was playing on the PlayStation while I made up a grocery shopping list. I warned my dc, "As soon as I finish this list we are leaving for the store!" My 5 yo dd sat down on a chair in the living room and told me, "I am not going anywhere! I won't leave the house! You can't make me!" and other things like that. I was completely bewildered because she had never acted like that before, but I just figured I'd deal with her attitude when I was ready to leave if she still was acting like that.

 

A little bit later my dh called and told me to turn on the TV. I interrupted ds's PS game and turned it on. Both planes had already hit the towers. Dh and I were on the phone for a bit, with me holding the receiver to the TV so he could hear. I think actually it was on speaker phone so his whole office could hear.

 

We hung up and a minute later the plane hit the Pentagon. I freaked out and tried to call dh back but all the circuits were busy. I spent most of the day watching TV but did actually go grocery shopping later.

 

Ds suffered a lot of guilt that he was playing a game when so many people had already died or were going to. And I realized that when my dd had been saying she wouldn't go out, that was precisely the time when the first plane hit the first tower. She must have sensed something was going on. When we went out later, she said nothing and went happily. I told this story to another homeschooling mom, and she said that she had had a feeling like something bad was happening and she turned on the news. They weren't reporting anything and she thought she must have been wrong, and then they broke in with coverage of the first plane hitting the first tower.

[MarthaT]

I was at home doing some chores around the house, and happened to turn on CNN, and just sat down in disbelief and watched it unfold:o

 

[Mrs. Frankweiler]

I was on I-95 on the way to the base commisary in Quantico when the first plane hit.

 

I was in the produce section when I learned that another plane had hit the other tower....in the aisles when the pentagon was hit.

 

By the time I got to the deli, the other customers had already determined that binLadin was at fault.

 

I sped back home to learn that another plane had crashed in PA, and I watched the towers fall.

 

It was an awful day, and the thought of it still brings tears to my eyes.

[Niffercoo]

I was a few months pregnant with Reece, and one of my best friends was due any day with her son. We planned to meet up for breakfast without kids one last time! Austin was in public school kindergarten, and Riley was in her 2nd week of preschool. We didn't turn the TV on during the morning while getting ready for school, and we were listening to a tape in the van.

 

Austin got on the bus at 7, I dropped Riley off at 9:30, and headed to the IHOP. I was completely oblivious. While waiting for my friend in a booth at the IHOP, I noticed people seemed to be very agitated. A few minutes later my husband called and asked if I'd seen the news. So the first news I had of the attacks was not visual.

 

My friend and I ate breakfast, and then I went home. Seeing everything on TV was much worse than I had imagined. I called my husband back and asked him if he thought I should get our son from school (preschool was nearly over for the day anyway). We decided it would freak Austin out more if we showed up at school before the end of the day. :(

 

The kids never saw any of the coverage. We thought they were too little at 5 and 2. I only told Austin the very basics.

[hillfarm]

Dh called me from work to tell me about the first plane. The second one hit while we were on the phone. I remember praying for the families, especially of the children.

 

I had an appointment to take my car in for servicing. After dropping it off, 3yo dd and I walked to the library. They had their television on with the volume way up. I asked if they could turn it down a bit since I didn't want dd to become frightened.

 

I didn't tell her for several years. To a 3yo, a bad person is one who won't wait for their turn at the water fountain. How to explain that there are some people so evil that they would kill so many like the terrorists did?

 

Dh works at a university. Several of his student workers were Muslim. They came and hung out in his office for most of the day. He went out and got lunch for them, as they all decided it would not be good for them to be seen wandering the streets that day.

[MamaT]

We lived in Tallahassee, FL at the time. I was in the mall getting my nails done, which was an unusual place for me to be. My dh and I were scheduled to leave for a cruise by ourselves for our 20th anniversary that Saturday. They had a big screen in the nail salon and we were all watching in shock. I went home to my kids and called my dh. We decided to go ahead with our cruise plans, but the boat was about 2/3 empty because of flights being cancelled.

[Christy B]

We were in Nags Head, NC, for vacation. It was a super windy day so we were going to go sight-seeing instead of sitting by the shore. Dh had on the tv and saw the first plane hit, I think all the adults (my parents were with us) saw the second plane hit. I remember very distinctly after seeing that second plane slice through the building, saying to my dh that those towers could not possibly stay standing long enough to get anyone out. He thought the tops of the towers were in big trouble but said that the fire would spread up, etc. He is the one with the engineering brain, he is always right about stuff like that. I have no head for math or architecture or structural integrity whatsoever -- I just had a gut feeling that they would not stand.

 

At some point, we decided to go ahead and take the girls out to see the lighthouse and get some lunch; our older dd was old enough to be upset but not understand, and our younger was just too little.

 

I think it was while we were at lunch that we heard about the Pentagon and the PA plane. I remember in the restaurant, total strangers were asking each other if they had any loved ones in NY. We were back home and watching TV again when the towers fell (or did we not leave until afterward? wow, the details you think you'll never forget . . . ). Dh was just stunned, he said that he never would have believed the towers would just implode like that. (Later, of course, with the information about the fuel, etc, it made perfect sense.)

 

We decided we were as safe in Nags Head as we would be anywhere, so we stayed for our vacation, alternating between watching tv and sitting by the edge of the ocean. Being away from home like that made everything even more surreal.

[AngelaNYC]

I was about 10 miles away from the World Trade Center in Queens, NYC. I was holding my 6 month old son and worried about my husband who had just started a new job in Midtown Manhattan. He called me, told me to put on the news, and said he's coming home as soon as possible. His office was right next to the U.N. Building and he thought it may not be safe there. No trains or buses were running in or out of the city and dh had to walk home over the 59th Street Bridge, along with thousands of others. Both dds were in school and we were called to pick them up early. I remember waiting for younger dds class to come out when several F-15 fighter planes flew over our heads. We all thought there would be many more attacks that day and we were terrified to come out of our homes. I was glued to the news for 2 weeks. I lost a couple of friends that day. I worked in the WTC in the early 90s. My sister catered a business breakfast there at 7am that morning - and was out of there by 8am. I can't believe how lucky she was. It's a day I'll never forget.

[bearnpurple]

I was on a trip for work (yes, before my homeschooling time) in Los Angeles. Of course, I was asleep and got a call to turn on the TV. I immediately called my mom (tried hubby but he was on the road - before cell phone). I had to wait to call my son who was in preschool that morning and by the time I did, the teacher had heard that I "was on the plane". In his little 5 year old mind, I was still on the plane he saw leave from Columbus airport and not realizing that it wasn't the same plane. :tongue_smilie:

 

Of course, by the time I got a flight I was gone almost a week instead of 3 days and I hugged and cried the minute I stepped off the plane! My co-workers didn't think a thing of me praying almost all the way home! Talk about a test of faith.....when I walked on the plane I just asked God point blank....."Are you really finished with me?" Guess he answered my question. I am now trying to show him that he made the right decision.:)

[HRAAB]

I was sitting at my kitchen table teaching my kids. The phone rang - which I don't answer during school time - and when the message came on it was dh telling me to pick up the phone right away. I thought he'd been in a wreck or fired or something. Anyway, he told me to turn on the TV and there it was.

 

Just now remembering I still get the awful sick, frightening feeling.

 

Janet

[littlebug42]

I was in my home that morning. I was 8 months pregnant with my oldest daughter and due to some pregnancy issues, I had been taken off work already by my OB. I was settling down on the couch to watch "Regis and Kelly" and on TV, I watched the second plane drive into the tower. I watched it all and cried for the world my baby was inheriting. That evening, we walked up to church. We live 1/2 block away and a good portion of my neighbors all go to our church. Everyone was walking to church together. It was one of the most beautiful moments in our neighborhood.

[lgm]

Home, in the Hudson Valley. It was a beautiful morning - bright blue sky, no clouds. My older was a first grader, it was the first week of school and the bus was late so when I went back in the house the phone rang and MIL told me to turn on the TV...news of the North Tower was just getting on the air. Quickly involved my preschooler in something else so he didn't see CNNs coverage. Many NYFD live in this area; I knew right then we were going to know children who would lose a parent. School personnel were so professional...students knew nothing other than they were in lockdown mode for whatever reason, dismissal was calm and orderly and not done until after lunch - everyone had to show id and pick up their child. I was so shocked that such a beautiful day was taken by hatred and could not beleive AA11 had gone right down our valley as all those innocent children were out waiting for their busses. I knew this was a declaration of war. Tolerance and respect for others beings is so needed in this world.

Edited September 11, 2009 by lgm

[KS_]

I was home, watching Good Morning America and listing auctions on Ebay. They cut into GMA with live shots right after the first plane hit, and didn't know what was going on to begin with. I kept the TV on the rest of the day, and called my parents and woke them up to tell them what happened.

[Mrs.W]

I was on my way to a leaders meeting for Bible Study Fellowship. It was a 20 minute drive, so I turned on the radio to a Christian station and they were praying like something really bad had happened, but no details. And then it went straight to music! So I started flipping through stations and then found out what was going on. Just before I got to the meeting they were reporting a fire at the Pentagon too, but had no other information. As I walked up to the church I saw our Teaching Leader who had not heard anything and I just burst into tears as I told her.

 

After the meeting I picked up my oldest from preschool and took both kids with me to wait in line to donate blood. It was the only thing I could think of that might be helpful. We waited in line for 4 hours, and everyone kept commenting on how well-behaved my kids were. I still find that amazing because this was just months before my son was diagnosed with autism and he was normally very difficult in public places, but he just played with his Thomas trains the whole day.

[~Tara~]

Living in northern KY. My third born was a month old. I had just turned off the tv to get a start on some school with my older two. A friend in western KY called asking if I saw what just happened. So I turned the tv back on and we sat there, on the phone, across the state from one another...watching.

[Paisley Hedgehog]

nm

[melissel]

My DH and drove into the city via the Holland Tunnel just before the first plane hit. I didn't even know about it until I got my office and heard someone in the elevator talking about it. I thought it was a small plane and was shaking my head over who could make that kind of mistake. Then I went down to Starbucks to get a coffee and I heard two people talking about a second plane, and I remember shaking my head and thinking, "The rumors are flying now!" It wasn't until I got back to my desk and received a near hysterical phone call from my mother trying to find me that I realized that something bigger was going on.

 

Those of use who'd made it to the office stayed there all morning. The subways were shut down, DH was stuck out in Brooklyn with the car, and I had no way to get home to NJ, so we alternated between hiding in the office, trying to get through to CNN, and standing on the roof of our building watching the towers go down (we were about a mile and a half away, I think, on Astor Place). It was completely unreal.

 

We were living at the lower tip of Jersey City at the time and used to be able see the towers from our front stoop. We could smell the destruction for weeks afterward, and when it rained for months afterward. It wasn't until last year that I stopped getting panicky on crisp, clear fall days for no apparent reason except the association with 9/11. I still panic when a particularly low plane goes overhead.

 

We though DD7 would be born on 9/11, but I was induced a few days earlier. Three years later, DD4 was born on 9/11 early and naturally. Thankfully, I have something happy to remember today to temper our other memories. My prayers and thoughts go out to the families and friends of those lost eight years ago in New York, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. It was bad enough to live it as we did. I can't imagine the horror of losing a loved one that way :(

[Alison in KY]

I was sitting on the couch nursing my 4 month old and watching my 2 yr old run around (in W. KY). I turned it on to CNN to see what was happening in the world. I remember them showing one man who was being interviewed, he had seen the first plane hit on his way to his son's school that morning (or something like that) It was all brand new and no one knew it was a terrorist attack, it had just happened. I'll never forget it.

[Ellie]

In Calfornia, so by the time I heard about it, it was several hours later.

 

[Kim in Appalachia]

I was pregnant with number 4. We were doing school, my oldest was 7. The tv was off, and my mom called. I didn't answer because I was determined not to let anything interfere with my day. I did hear her on the machine. All she said was turn on the tv and see what's going on in the world. I assumed a war had started in Israel, since hightened troubles there had been in the news a lot.

 

I remember turning on the tv and trying to figure out what was going on. I could see the one World Trade center burning, and while I was watching a plane flew into the other one. I was in shock, trying to figure out if it really was NY, or I was mistaken. It took a while for it to sink in. I couldn't even make out what was being said on the tv. I was glued to the tv for days after that.

[jonesloonybin]

We were in Oregon. My husband gets up really early for work and he usually NEVER turns on the TV. But for some reason that morning he turned on the news and they were talking about the first plane that hit the towers. He came into the bedroom and woke me up. He turned on the TV in our room and I was half asleep and could not understand what was happening. We then watched as the 2nd plane hit and then the towers fell. DH had to go into work (his section is considered critical during an emergancy). My oldest dd was 6. I had an appointment that day in Portland (infertility treatment). I was just in shock. I took my dd to school and then drove by myself up to Portland. There was NO ONE on the road. Which is good since I sobbed the whole way up there and all through my appt. and all the way home. I don't even remember the drive or what went on during my appt. We sat in front of the TV the rest of the week.

 

I found out a year later on 9/11/02 that I was finally pregnant after many years of trying for our 2nd.

 

We also lined up to give blood.

 

That day will stay with me always. I hope we never have to go through something like that again.

[NicA]

I was in college in CA. One of my friends called and woke us (me and my roommate) up. It was pretty early, and we had no idea what she was saying. She told us to turn on the tv, and we turned it on right before the second plane flew into the WTC. We were shocked. They ended up canceling school for a couple days, so we all just sat around watching the news for hours.

[johnandtinagilbert]

I was on my way to speech therapy, driving in my mini-van. As soon as I got there, the tv was on and I was the crashes on the news. I called my dh and he was watching it on the news. I will never forget that day. It was all I could do to believe it was real. Still feels surreal.

[dangermom]

I was right here in the house we still live in. Since we live in CA, and I never turn on the TV or news in the morning, I didn't hear until after 9am, and the towers were already down. My husband called me from work to tell me.

 

My oldest girl was 14 months old and I spent the day alternately holding myself together for her--she kept wanting to be read stories--and watching TV whenever she was out of the room. She was a late walker and took her first steps that day, in front of the TV just as all the Congresspeople were singing God Bless America.

[WagsWife]

We were PCSing (moving) from Minot AFB to Vandenberg AFB. We got into town around 2 am. We were all so excited to be at our new duty station, that we all woke up early. My DH and the girls were all playing and laughing in the hotel room.

 

The maid came in to fix something in the bathroom, and kept looking at us like we were crazy. Before she left, she said "you don't know, do you?" When we asked her what she was talking about, she told us that the country was being attacked.

 

We turned on the tv, and saw one of the towers fall. We decided that we did not want the girls to see all of that (they were little,) so we took them downstairs for breakfast. As soon as we walked into the dining room, some guys (noticing my Dh's hair cut) told us that the base was about to close, and if we wanted on...we should go right away.

 

We threw the girls and our stuff in the car and raced to the base...we made it just in time. It was not until later that afternoon, when the girls were down for a nap, that we really understood the full scope of what had happened.

 

The next couple of weeks were so surreal. We were so happy to be out of Minot and in CA...but devastated for our country and the thousands of families who were mourning.

[Krista in LA]

I was watching Good Morning America when I saw the second tower get hit. I had to run dd to preschool and then came home and watched the tv the rest of the day. We live in the flight path for Barksdale AFB and the skies were eerily silent that day. At some point, I decided to get out of the house - as ds and I were getting in the car, a large white plane, unlike what usually flies over, passed overhead. I found out later that it was AF1 with the president aboard. Living in a military community and having lots of military friends, it was a very strange time.

[rafiki]

.

[Closeacademy]

We were watching Barney when my dh called and told us to turn on the TV. It was before the towers fell and at first I thought that they were little planes, it was quite shocking when I figured out that they were big planes.

 

It was so awful, that even though we are getting to modern history I don't think that I can deal with it right now. I think that it is something that we will cover when my oldest is in 8th. Maybe by then I won't feel so tender and horrified.

 

Frankly, I don't know if I will be able to teach my children about this important event but I know someday we will have to hash it all out.

[melissel]

Frankly, I don't know if I will be able to teach my children about this important event but I know someday we will have to hash it all out.

 

I feel the same way. Even now, all I have to do is think about that day and I'll start to cry on the spot, and I don't generally cry that often. I don't know how I'll ever teach it.

[Tap]

I had a 3rd grader just leaving for school, a 3yo and was home. I remember going outside and telling other parents to turn on their TVs. We live just 15 miles from the center of a large city with an international airport so we were concerned that we may be next.

 

What I remember most was the feeling change from it being a horrific accident...to a terrorist attack. I was watching from the beginning when it was only the first plane.

[caitlinsmom]

We had just moved (3 days before) Portland Or for dh job. I was schedualed for an interview. I called the company to get directions and parking instructions only to be told the interview was cancelled because of the towers. I had no idea as I dont watch TV and our stereo was still packed!

We all stood around the TV shocked. I went to my other job at US Bank and everything was on high security and eventually we all went home that day.

I only lived a couple miles from the PDX airport and it was surreal to see no air traffic of any sort. When the airport opened again I remember driving across the city on the freeway and there were planes lined up as far as the eye could see. They just floated there waiting for their turn to land.

 

A very surreal time for sure!

[Katiebug_1976]

I was on the way to the grocery store in Kansas with 2 little kids (my oldest had just started kindergarten and was at school) when I couldn't figure out why there wasn't any music on the radio. My husband was at work about 150 miles away (we were getting ready to move and he went ahead to work and find a house). When I realized what happened, I was HORRIFIED! I had just found out the day before that my dad was flying into Manhattan on a business trip(he works for Homeland Security). I didn't know if he had already landed, or if he was on one of the planes that crashed. I called and woke up my mom (on the west coast) and thankfully he had landed the night before. Later that morning she got a 2 second phone call from someone that said he was safe and they hung up. Like that put our minds at ease! Anyway, he finally got home 3 days later, and we found out that he had been walking to a meeting that morning and was 2 blocks away from the towers when the planes hit (he got some pretty close pictures while running the other way). He and his associates ended up being shuttled out of Manhattan and had to stay in a youth detention center for a night before being able to get out of the "crazy zone." Anyway, it is deffinately a day I wont ever forget! I thought there for awhile that we might have lost my dad. I was sooooooo happy to find out that he was safe, but then went through a time of, not guilt, but I'm not sure what word to use, I felt really bad for those who did lose loved ones. What a sad day!

[Melinda in VT]

I was at my base house in Newport RI. My dh was on base and had just flown home from Bahrain about 3 weeks earlier, the ship he flew home from was turned around while on transit home from a six month deployment and spent 2 more months in the Persian Gulf.

 

I was in Newport that day too. I was online. DH called, said "Turn on the TV" and hung up. On the way downstairs, I realized I hadn't asked him what channel I was supposed to watch. Once I turned on the TV, I realized what a silly question that was.

 

Within minutes, the second plane had crashed into the Twin Towers. I watched until it was time for me to leave for work.

 

ETA: My brother was on a sub. Their last port call had been Bahrain. They surfaced on 9/11 to get mail, got the early garbled reports of the attack, and had to decide whether to follow their original orders or change course.

Edited September 11, 2009 by Melinda in VT

[kmacnchs]

I was in college, on my way to English Lit when I heard the news in the car.

 

I was a freshman in college, walking to English class...people who were coming the opposite way told me and we didn't believe them...

 

I spent the day in the dorms watching TV and going to a local church and praying.

 

Everyone half expected 9/11 to only be the beginning...my hubby (then bf) said for me to stay put and he would come pick me up (4hrs away) if something happened in the city I was in.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I was almost to work when I heard about the first tower being hit on my car radio. I went into work, and someone had the TV on in the lunchroom, and I watched as the second tower was hit. People were shocked, but it seemed distant to us in Ohio. Then when the Pentagon was hit, and shortly after they were talking about a hijacked plane over Ohio (which eventually was the one the crashed in PA), everybody at work started panicking about what would happen next. It was so scary to be so unsure of what the heck was going on. Pretty much all the office buildings around us closed down. We went home (dh and I were dating and worked together) to my house and watched TV. Dh couldn't take watching it over and over, so he left and went for a walk in the woods, but I couldn't turn off the TV because I needed to know what was happening.

[Satori]

I was living with my fiance (now DH), and happened to be sleeping in when an ex-boyfriend called to tell me the news. (We had just been there the year before together and took pictures up there in the towers, so he was hoping I'd have them.)

[Tressa]

My husband has left the night before for an underway period. I was heading to the base to take my oldest to the doctor when I heard the news in the car. I don't think it registered at the time. We saw the doctor and waited at the pharmacy for his meds. I remember just sitting there watching the TVs transfixed like everyone else. I got off the base just before they closed it. I think that is when it hit me. I went home to learn from the news that my husband was heading to NY to sit off the coast. I was a wreck, but fortunately had good friends staying with me at the time.

[sbgrace]

I was a HS teacher at the time. I was in class (I assume) and then on my prep hour when it all happened. Toward the end of the hour I went down to the lunch area to pick up a snack. The study hall kids were in the room watching and I caught a glimpse of one of the towers collapsing (replay at that time). A student rushed up to me and told me that planes hit the world trade towers and pentagon and there was at least one more.

 

My first thought was those poor people (in the towers and planes) and their families. Then I rushed to my class to pray and try to prepare for my incoming class. I figured not all of them knew what had happened and if I was going to tell them for the first time I knew it was a moment they would remember and I wanted to do it as gently as I could.

 

As they filed in (9th graders) I remember thinking their lives had changed. I grew up with the fear of nuclear war. They grew up with the idea that our nation was safe. So now that security was gone for this generation. I have no idea what I said or how kids reacted. My husband was auditing in a govt building and I was worried for him a bit. I don't remember anything else about that day.

Edited September 12, 2009 by sbgrace

[Desert Rat]

I was at home with my 1yo. We were up and watched the news that morning. I remember sneaking off into the bedroom and turning on the TV to watch because I didn't want it on around my boy. I was very grateful that PBS continued their regular programming. Sesame Street was all I watched for days. My best friend, who's was in Sydney at the time called panicking because the news down there just said America was under attack but not WHERE in America.

I still can see those families faces with the posters and pictures of their loved ones begging people to answer that they had seen him/her. That, above all else, broke my heart. It still does.

[Colleen in NS]

I was at home, holding my almost 1yo. The delivery guy came to the door with a package, and told us what happened, so we turned on the news and watched it for hours.

 

Then we started hearing how, when the U.S. airspace was closed to commercial traffic, most of the planes coming to the States from across the Atlantic Ocean, were landing in Halifax near us! From pics on the local news that evening, we could see that the runways at the airport were clogged. As immigration and security cleared people, they began dispersing all through our region, to hotels, schools, sports facilities, and private homes. We walked up to one of the local schools where people were staying and offered to host someone who wanted some privacy. It was so bizarre, to see all these nationalities walking around, speaking their languages, and knowing they were here in our area because of something that happened hundreds of miles away.

[Guest Cindie2dds]

Well, I was very grateful to be home. I had just flown in from a trip that Monday evening and gotten in at 11pm. I was woken up by all my family and friends to see if I was okay. I'm a flight attendant for one of the airlines that was hijacked that horrible day.

 

:grouphug: to all of those who are remembering lost loved ones and friends today.

[nova147]

I was in college. I remember a few people with odd looks on their faces as I walked to class. And when I got to class, a girl was saying something was happening in New York. Our professor brought in a radio and we listened as the 2nd tower was hit. After about 20 minutes, we left class. I sat in front of a TV the rest of the day. We all wanted to do something, but there was nothing to do -- the Red Cross told us they already had lots of people waiting to give blood and that we shouldn't come down. That night (I think) there was a service in the chapel. I don't remember much about it, except that a guy who had been in one of my classes the year before was in the reserves and had been called up. It was surreal. I went to college in an isolated area, but I was still afraid. And I had rarely noticed the planes before, but I noticed that there were none flying. I don't know how I'll ever be able to tell my kids about it. I guess I have some time to sort it out, though.

[OhM]

It was surreal.

 

And I had rarely noticed the planes before, but I noticed that there were none flying.

 

Surreal - that's the word. I was at the office - someone had heard a report driving in to work, so we turned on the TV to follow the news. There was something in my brain that needed "switched" to be able to accept the reality of what was happening, because what it looked like was literally unfathomable, given my experience up until that point. We watched a live feed as the second plane it, and then started sobbing as the reality of the situation hit us.

 

We had several co-workers and colleagues travelling. The rest of the day was a terrifying and confusing mess, since communications were interrupted, and flights were grounded. I remember a harrowing drive home at the end of the day because it was hard to see through the tears that wouldn't stop.

 

And then there was deadly quiet for the days after, when there were no planes in the air.

 

Terrifying, unreal day. Surreal - that's it.

[Scarlett]

I was at my mom's with my 9 month old baby. I had been watching the news but heard him wake up and went in to the bedroom and nursed him. When I got back to the living room I could tell instantly something was very wrong and I was sitting there trying to figure out what had happened the second plane hit. It was unbelievable. My mom was a teacher in a very rural school and their internet, as was much of the country, wouldn't work due to overload or something. So she kept IM'ing me for updates from her classroom. Husband was at work an hour away and he couldn't get internet news sites to work either, so he kept calling me for updates.

 

I do remember that feeling of not wanting to take my eyes off the tv screen.

[mysticamethyst]

I was at home sleeping when my aunt called me and told me to turn on the tv that we were being attacked on our soil by terriost. I remember telling her she was out of her mind. Then I turned on my tv, called my husband and asked that he come home to be with us. There was no school that day for sure the kids spent the day on their games while we were glued to the tv. Just reading or talking about that day make me cry, I agree, I dont' know how I will ever get thru teaching that part of our history.:grouphug::grouphug:

[Mary in NJ]

Dentist chair in North Dakota, watching it on the television that was provided to promote a stress free dental experience

[Lisa in the UP of MI]

It was my first year of college. I didn't find out until I went to my first class. The teacher left to get a tv and found out about the attacks instead. Our classes were cancelled and most of our house in the dorms went to donate blood. There were so many people that it took a few hours. Three years later we were in the hospital in labor with our first daughter.