September 11th....what a sad day.

[melissad2]

I still remember turning on the news that morning just before the 2nd plane hit. I remember being overcome with grief and sadness although I didnt know any one there, I felt a connection to them. My thoughts and prayers go out to all those who lost someone that day.

[Kelly1730]

I know, when I looked at the calendar this morning, I prayed for all those who are still hurting today because of the loss of their loved ones.On that day I was sitting on my family room sofa, nursing my 2 mo twin sons and just not believing what I was seeing on Good Morning America.:(

[gingersmom]

I try to forget the day is September 11th. I think about that day all the time. It happened the day before my daughters first day of kindergarten. We lived outside of NYC and I had family living/working in NYC.

 

I turned on the news this morning and they started showing the memorial. I watched for 2 minutes, started crying and turned the tv off.

[Chris in VA]

This year was the first time I really told dd all about 9/11.

We were in the car this morning, driving to school.

I asked her if she knew where *she* was, that morning. I told her she was at home with me (just a baby, of course) and I heard about the planes, then rushed to the library, just wanting to get out of here. I feel the same when it's going to storm--just need to do one more thing before I can't do anything.

 

I told her all about Shanksville, and the bravery of those people. I told her about how unexpected it was, that the towers actually fell, and how there were emergency rooms standing by, expecting to be filled to bursting by injured people, but the people died in the falling towers.

 

I told her of our experiences, having moved here to NoVA just 3 weeks prior--how horribly unsafe her brothers felt. That feeling continued--the year after 9/11, the Beltway Sniper was out and about, and their elementary school was on high alert, with shades drawn every day and no recess, and buses that parked at an angle so to shield the kids going in and out of the school. It was over a month of scariness and insecurity.

 

The year after, we had an attempted break-in at our house in the middle of the night, while dh was OOT--I ran screaming down the stairs, "GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!!" trying to get to the only phone to call 911, not knowing if the man was actually in the house yet, and the police took 20 minutes to find us as we are in the woods and they did not know where the Rectory was located.

 

The next year, ds began experimenting with alcohol.

 

9/11 was the beginning of a very, very rough period for us, for our family, and for our nation, of course. I am amazed at our resilience. I will never, ever forget.

[PiCO]

I had just dropped my girls off at school, and was meeting with my brownie co-leader. She told me a plane had hit the towers. I was so confused- just the year before my dh & I had flown our small plane around Manhattan Island... how could someone accidentally fly into a tower?

 

Then we saw the video. I was absolutely astounded.

 

My kids were both too young to "get" it... almost 8 and almost 3. We kept the TV off when they were in the house. But of course older dd did hear about it, but not in a meaningful way. Younger dd didn't really know what happened until a few years ago.

 

The worst thing for me was watching people jump out. How horrible must it have been inside to completely give up hope and jump. And, of course, the emergency rooms waiting and waiting for survivors, and not having any.

 

I remember the silence- no air traffic overhead. Wondering what the world would be like now. Wondering if life would even go on as we know it.

 

Our resilience is amazing. I am truly proud to be an American.

[blondeviolin]

I was sitting in AP biology as a high school junior. We were working on a project so we had the tv on in the background. Our projects sat unfinished as we gaped at what was happening before our eyes.

 

We lived near and my father worked on Ft Knox. A lot of changes happened there because of the incidents.

 

I will never forget.

[Sandy in Indy]

We watched to original Today show coverage for a while this morning on MSNBC. My 12 yr old had heard us talk of 9-11 but he'd never really seen the footage. Even all these years later, I cried watching all the devastation. It's still unthinkable that it happened.

[LibraryLover]

tmi

Edited September 11, 2012 by LibraryLover

[SailorMom]

It changed the course of so many lives. The military shifted gears and hasn't shifted back (and it can't being that we have yet to actually defeat Al Qaeda).

 

My DH has been gone 6-8 months out of the year ever since, and while I really want him home, miss him, and can't wait for him to retire - I also am glad that we still have people out there trying to stop this from ever happening again.

 

The flags are flying today - and people are remembering today - but I wish the vast majority of the public would put more thought into it on a regular basis rather than save it for a few days out of the year.

[Princess Peach]

I remember I turned on the TV just after the first plane hit. The NBC commentators were speculating about what had happened with their cameras trained on the smoking building. I watched the 2nd plane hit and then there was no doubt. So scary and so sad. :(

[Denisemomof4]

I cry every year. My family was almost on the flight which left Boston and was a direct hit on one of the twin towers. I switched our vacation week last minute to the week before so we could start school earlier. Had we stuck to our original plans, our entire family pre-adoption would be dead.

 

One of my best friends watched the attacks from his office. He lost his sister and nephew that day.

 

My heart aches for all the people hurting today. The shows which air constantly this time of year are very, very difficult on people who lost a loved one that day. Every year their nightmare is played over and over. :crying:

[blessed3x]

I just told ds10 about it today, and then we watched some of the memorial service. I was in tears.

 

I was pregnant with him when the planes hit, and dh was still in the USMC. I remember trying to get him on the phone, but couldn't. I had to go pick dd's up from their school and *wait* -hours- to hear from him. Thankfully he was safe.

 

My heart still breaks for the families. :grouphug:

[Trish]

It is a little freaky for me because it's my birthday. I imagine the people born on December 7th probably felt the same way, from the previous generation.

[Susan C.]

My dc were young, and we were homeschooling, so we watched it all day. I remember seeing the second plane hit and remember wondering if it was a replay. Now my kids are college and post college!

[mommaduck]

Well, it was my daughter's third birthday. She's fourteen today...so we are celebrating. I can't turn her birthday into mourning every year, but I do understand. Everyone was stunned that day.

[mykdsmomy]

We lived next door to my parents at that time and my three oldest were 1, 2 and 6....

My mom came over hysterical....I remember her words vividly "They got the pentagon"....

I remember pulling the three kids close to me while watching the coverage wondering if Los Angeles was next.....

I remember dh calling to tell me there was still one hijacked plane in the air (Penn.) and they would most likely have to shoot it down because it was headed towards the Capitol.

 

I remember watching people jump out of the twin towers while they were burning.

I remember watching survivors run down the streets of NYC

 

I'll never forget that day :(

[ChristyB in TN]

We were homeschooling and watched the coverage all day. I was so scared. It was so surreal watching fighter jets fly around Nashville after that happened. Seemed like we looked up a lot for a good amount of time.

[earthyfamily]

I was having a baby while all of this happened. I know 9/11 is a sad day for so many, but while I take the time to remember our country as a whole who went through this, it's a time of awesome celebration for us. A light in the tunnel sort of...good stuff happened that day too. :)

[SunnyDays]

It is a little freaky for me because it's my birthday. I imagine the people born on December 7th probably felt the same way, from the previous generation.

 

I have a friend here whose birthday is September 11th. We were scheduled to have lunch that day, and we had to cancel to stay with our teams (we were both managers in our respective offices). She had a hard time for a few years. (Happy birthday, Trish!! :grouphug:)

 

We were at work that morning in a meeting... someone came in to tell us what was going on. I didn't get it at first... it wasn't until I saw the footage that it really sunk it that it was *deliberately* done. It was surreal.

 

I just talked with my son about it again... he knew bits and pieces early on. I think he was in kindergarten when he asked why the flags were flying at half staff on that September 11th. I give him a little more info each year. It's hard to tell them about things that crush their innocence.

[ChristyB in TN]

I was having a baby while all of this happened. I know 9/11 is a sad day for so many, but while I take the time to remember our country as a whole who went through this, it's a time of awesome celebration for us. A light in the tunnel sort of...good stuff happened that day too. :)

 

Oh, so true. I had a baby during the OJ Simpson trial. The video is hilarious. It is hard to focus on the event without noticing Marsha Clark. ;)

[DianeW88]

My kids have always known about it, as I don't shield them from news coverage on stories of that magnitude.

 

We were on the top floor of the Excalibur hotel in Las Vegas on our way to...wait for it....Disneyland. (I know, you're all shocked.)

 

We were watching the coverage and getting ready to leave when we saw a news advisory asking people to vacate tall buildings as other targets had been named, and all aircraft had not landed and several planes were unaccounted for. We hustled the kids out to car and drove through the desert, which we figured was as safe a place as you could be.

 

On the radio, we heard the announcement that Disneyland had been closed, but the cast member who answered the phone at Disney Dining (the only number we could get through on) told us to come anyway.

 

We kept the radio tuned to the news, so my oldest two kiddos (then 11 and 9) heard everything as it happened. We spent lots of time praying for the families involved and our country on that drive.

 

When we arrived at the Disneyland Hotel, all the characters were in the lobby to greet us (that never happens). They immediately rushed for my children (particularly my 9 month old, Minnie Mouse just swooped him right up) and embraced them. I think it was a comfort to those cast members to have children to focus on and to see their smiles and hear their laughter. My oldest had so much fun playing with Woody and Buzz and my dd just loved that Cinderella and Aurora were sitting and chatting with her about princess things. My baby kept squeezing Minnie's nose and laughing and Mickey was playing hide and seek with him.

 

We checked in while our kiddos were being entertained and then Cinderella asked if she could take the kids into a room where they had cookies, lemonade and Disney movies. The desk clerk informed us that there was a room for adults with banks of televisions so that we could watch the continuing news coverage without the kids. This worked out so well, and my kids were able to escape all the scary stuff with their favorite characters in the world.

 

We were almost the only people in the entire hotel, as all flights were grounded, so no one was arriving by air, and all the locals were home, glued to their TV sets. I stayed in the hotel room, watching the news, while my baby napped, and my dh took my oldest two to the pool, where Peter Pan and Captain Hook were leading the kids that were there in games.

 

Later that evening, we headed to the ESPN Zone in Downtown Disney where all soda drinks were free, as well as all games and the climbing wall.

 

When we came back to the hotel, we were met by Goofy who let us know (by dramatic hand gestures) that he wanted us as his guests for dinner in "Goofy's Kitchen". The staff and characters worked so hard to help our family feel some happiness that night in spite of the tragedy that enveloped our country. They sat with us at the table, held my baby, took my kids to the buffet and filled their plates so my dh and I could just stay at the table, and generally spent the entire meal making my kids laugh. In light of the days' events, I felt myself tearing up more than once at the scene.

 

The park was reopened the next day and honestly, there were hardly any guests. It was eerie. Disney put on an amazing patriotic remembrance and moment of silence with their flag being raised to half staff on Main St. in the Magic Kingdom, while members of our military played taps and we all sang "God Bless America". There were some foreign guests visiting, and they all came up to us afterwards and hugged us saying they were so sorry for what happened and they wanted to be able to let "America" know in some way. I was a mess by the end of that.

 

So all in all, it was very surreal to spend one of the saddest days in our nation's history in "The Happiest Place on Earth", but my kids will never forget where they were or the events of that day because of it. My prayers are with the families who lost loved ones on that day. I can't imagine the pain ever goes away. :crying:

[justLisa]

I will never forget. It is heart braking to even think about.

[Trish]

I have a friend here whose birthday is September 11th. We were scheduled to have lunch that day, and we had to cancel to stay with our teams (we were both managers in our respective offices). She had a hard time for a few years. (Happy birthday, Trish!! :grouphug:)

 

We were at work that morning in a meeting... someone came in to tell us what was going on. I didn't get it at first... it wasn't until I saw the footage that it really sunk it that it was *deliberately* done. It was surreal.

 

I just talked with my son about it again... he knew bits and pieces early on. I think he was in kindergarten when he asked why the flags were flying at half staff on that September 11th. I give him a little more info each year. It's hard to tell them about things that crush their innocence.

 

Thank you, Cris. You know I re-watched the footage this morning (it was on MSNBC), and one of the things that struck me was how LONG it took for the news anchors to realize the first tower had collapsed. They kept saying "a piece of the building fell off" and then talking about other things like the Pentagon. It was a while later that they received word that the building had in fact COLLAPSED, and they were able to show footage of it.

[frugalmama]

I still remember it clearly like it was yesterday. I was in AP English 4 and the special ed teacher ran in from the classroom next door and told us to turn the TV on, there had been an attack in NYC. I watched the entire thing on TV. We didn't do anything else that morning, the school was on lockdown and they didn't even have us switch classes. I was so scared and had to sneak out to the RR and use my cell to call my folks to see were they okay.

 

 

I still don't like 9-11. That was dd's due date in 2006 and I went into labor late on the 10th, but I held out until the 12th as I didn't want her born on 9-11 and to have to endure that all her life.

[scrappyhappymama]

I was driving to work and heard breaking news that a plane had hit the WTC. I remember it being rather lowkey reporting, because at first everyone presumed it was a small plane that had gone astray, or maybe a suicide. There had been several of those in the few years before 9-11- small planes into buildings. I drove into an underground parking garage and lost radio coverage. It took me about 20 minutes from the time I last heard news coverage to get to the 18th floor of the building I worked in. When I walked in, folks looked shell-shocked, and someone asked me if I had heard. I said "Yeah, a commute plane flew into the WTC, right? Crazy." And they said, "No. It's terrorism. Another plane has flown into the other tower." I still get goose bumps.

 

I was working for a brokerage company and we had colleagues working in WTC 4, one of the smaller buildings next to the towers. These were folks we talked to one the phone often, so of course we were all very concerned. Fortunately, the building was short enough that they were evacuated completely, but the building was destroyed when the towers collapsed.

 

Briefly, they considered evacuating our building, because we were in a skyscraper in a major US city, and we were very near the flight path of a local airport. Our building had bridges that crossed from one side to another with huge windows that overlooked the city, and on a normal day, planes would fly right toward our building before lifting higher. So we were all a bit nervous, but then they grounded all flights and so we stayed put.

 

The stock market was closed, so our phones were very quiet except for a few people calling concerned about their accounts and so all we could tell them was we didn't know. We watched the coverage all morning, and when the first building collapsed, folks started weeping. I remember thinking, "I just watched thousands of people die." Absolutely devastating.

 

In a sharp and poignant contrast, my husband called me at work, to see how I was doing, but also to let me know that my sister had gone into labor. She was at her OB's office, watching coverage on the office TV, and started contractions there. Her sweet little girl was actually born on the 12th, but we will never forget the circumstances around her birth. My parents were unable to fly out for the birth like they normally would, and had to wait a few weeks for flight service to be restored to go see their new grandbaby.

 

Sometime around 9/11, my first son was conceived. It wasn't that day of course, because we were all too emotional and sad, but in the weeks afterwards, I think that folks were much more focused on family and home and the simple comforts. Interestingly, when my son was born the following June, all of the care providers we encountered commented on the baby boom that month. So I guess we were not alone.

 

I personally spoke with two 9/11 widows in the months to come. Many, many folks affected by 9/11 had to call us to work out estate details. Unfortunately, my department worked on accounts where some kind of transactional mistake had happened and had to be corrected, so it was doubly disturbing to be talking to these women. As part of their documentation, they had to provide death certificates for their husbands. I remember sitting and staring at them when they crossed my desk. One listed the cause of death as homicide and the other as accidental death by crushing. I remember thinking about how many times these poor women had to copy that death certificate and send it off, just to get their affairs in order and to try to put the paperwork part of this at least in the past.

 

My kids watched some of the 10th anniversary coverage with me last year, so they all know about it. I think it is a defining event for our generation and it is important for them to know about it. Two of their uncles joined the service shortly after 9/11. I'll never forget.