September 11 Anniversary. Where were you? Share here:

[orvilleair]

It all happened at work, and we worked the entire day. Heard the tragedy on the radio. One of my best friends at work had to leave early, because she is the legal guardian of her brothers two kids. Her brother and his wife are in the military, and the base was in lockdown with no time when it would end.

I got home and heard a large explosion. Being close to an air force base, we thought the worse. And the local media was adding to the speculation by reporting a missle or plane down in the west part of the city. Pretty surreal. One by one my neighbors came out hearing the explosions. And for one afternoon, we just talked. Talked about everything. Most of my neighbors keep to themselves, and that was the one occassion where everyone checked up on eachother to see if they're ok. My mom called to see if I was ok. The explosions turned out to be sonic booms from a couple of F16s.

We already planned it, so we baptized my daughter the Sunday after 9/11. The pastor gave a brief sermon that life continues and we prayed that the world would be a peacful place for my daughter. One relative would not go to our church because the church is a stone's throw away from the air force base. It was still very tense in my town. We had a party afterword, and I got the feeling that people needed to talk about stuff other than 9/11. I am teary eyed as I'm writing this.

9/11 has become a reflection of where my life stands and it could end anytime. My heart goes out for the victims and their families.

 

[Nebsky]

My wife and I had just finished droping our son off at day care. We were on our way to work at American Airlines HDQ. My brother called to tell me that there was a plane that hit the tower. I quickly turned on the radio. I immediately thought about it and knew it wasnt an accident. No way a plane is that off course these days. 10 seconds later, we heard live the 2nd tower getting hit and I was sure it was terrorisim. We ran inside as we had heard that the rumor was the 1st one was a silver plane. I logged into the computer and got into the flight system and checked on flight 11. I scanned the names of the crew, then the passengers. I didn't know any of them, but what struck me as odd was there were alot of middle eastern names. I hate to say it but yes, I did profile. It turns out I picked each and every terrorist. We were talking about it and watching over and over the sight of the United 767 hitting the building. It hurt a lot. Then we hear that there another one of our planes missing. American 77. I had been on this flight many many times when I lived in the DCA area. I could not get the crew/psgr list to come up as they were locked out. Next thing we know they lost it on radar and there was the explosion at the Pentagon. We knew we lost another one. There was another plane out there. United 93. We learned what happened there and it was just like we kept getting kicked over and over that day. It wasnt just American and United, All airlines got kicked 4 times. Airlines are communities. We know each other. We feel for each other. This hurt like no other thing has hurt ever and the pain is still there to this day.

The FAA then issued a directive, Ground the Fleets. The skys became quiet. I live 20 mins from DFW Airport. I use to live 20 minutes from DCA and IAD. I was always use to the sound of Jets and Planes. It hurt not hearing that distant roar. The skys would remain quiet for 3 days.

We left work that day angry, upset, confused and bewildered. Our nation had created one of the greatest accomplishments in the Mankind, Powered Flight. Our enemies used it against us. It makes me upset today because what happend, changed everyone's life. My life will never be the same. My job will never be the same. My country will never be the same.

There are still those out there that want to do us more harm and that angers me. To them I say, Let me warn you now. I might be small in frame, but I guarantee you, you will be strapping on someone who will not stand for it. You will be met with as much resistance and strength I can muster. I will do all I can to thwart your attacks. I might suffer a mortal wound, but you will not succeed in your mission. I will stop you from ruining my childs way of life. He will know what it is like to grow up a free man where he can make his own decisions, choose his own religion, choose his own way of life. He will understand and know what it is to be an AMERICAN.

 

[mt2]

Thank you all for your stories.

I was 25 weeks pregnant and sitting in my recliner. It was an awful pregnancy. Anyway, my best friend (lived in Houston) and I (DFW) would call each other every Tues morning. It was a ritual with us for 2 years. My DD's were in their 1st grade class watching TV and saw part of it. One of their teachers became upset but controlled because she saw the plane hit the second tower where her aunt works. the kids thought it was a video game of some sort.

My DH was in Colorado doing his two week annual reserve duty and was due home Thursday.

Best Friend and I couldn't believe what we saw. See, we would watch the same shows together as we talked on the phone. We each had to call our DH's. Hers worked for an oil company.

When I got ahold of DH, he said that he was fine but on lock down until further notice. He wouldn't be coming home until..... I told him that he had other things to concern himself with. The plane hadn't hit the Pentagon yet. We decided to leave the girls in school to keep things normal.

I was on the phone with my BFr again, when we heard about the Pentagon. I called DH. He said that he already knew. How, I asked? I just do, OK! Then he said the weirdest thing to me.

"I want you to call DVC and add 100 more points for the VWL. Call them right now! Those people are not going to do the damage they think they are going to do. We are going to be better and stronger because of it. Instead of us cowering, we will be more united." I could only say to him," UH sure"

I know that he was very angry and was going to do what ever he wanted. I called our rep. She is very sweet natured. She couldn't believe that I was calling to do an add-on that day. Didn't I know what was happening? Yes I did. That is why I was adding points. She was nice but distracted a bit. I asked if she was OK. She told me that her brother was supposed to be working in one of the towers but she didn't know which one or if he was OK. (He was fine.He woke up late that morning and hadn't made it in when the planes hit).

One of DH's commanders called me at home the next day to let me know that they would try to get DH home ASAP because I was pregnant. I told him that I had a wonderful network of friends and that he had other issues that he needed to deal with then a pregnant woman in TX. He just chuckled. I told him that I was used to being left behind due to the fact that I am a Navy brat. I would be just fine and DH would be here when he gets here.

DH came back Sunday afternoon.

I did find out that one of the ladies that I volunteer with at the kids school was on the phone with her DH. When the plane hit, he lost his balance and fell or stumbled. He dropped the cell phone and it went dead. It broke due to the fall. He was one block away from one of the towers. He had a meeting there and was late because he got lost. He later found a rental car co. and drove back to TX. He didn't stop unless he needed gas.

It is a day that will never be forgotten. Thanks for reading and sharing.

mt2

 

[mickeyfan1]

I was in Alaska sailing on a cruise ship in Glacier Bay. All the TVs were tuned to CNN, the captain made several announcements that we should go out and enjoy the beauty of the Bay, and later there was a memorial service held. It was so strange being so far removed from everything. Of course the news was reporting that the terrorits were Muslim, and many of the ships crew were Malaysian, which has a large Muslim population, the crew was very subdued, and many were afraid that they would be removed from the ship due to their nationality. That did not happen. Security was tightened, we were all searched before being allowed back on the ship after shore excurians in Sitka. When we neared our final destination, everyone was wondering how they would get home, or what would happen. The ship offered anyone that wanted to to stay aboard and return to Vancouver that way, as there were no passengers going to board in Alaska. The Anchorage airport was closed, as were all the others in the country, people had no where to stay as the hotels were all full. I was booked on a land tour and we were told to go ahead. THe only problem was the luggage, they would ususally send the luggage to Fairbanks while the passengers toured Denali National Park, but luggage had to be kept with the person who owned it. By the time the tour was done, we got to Fairbanks not knowing if we would be stayig there for a few days or not. As it ended up, we got on the first flight out the next morning, but everyone's luggage was totaly searched, so we were delayed. We conected in Seattle, it was so strange seeing armed men walking the halls. The same thing in Memphis. All the additonal security was reassuring but scary. I got back to FL and stayed the night at my mothers and then went back to the airport the next day for 2 more flights to get home to AZ. And I only heard one person complain about all the delays. He apparently was better than all the other people in the airport, demanding to be allowed to biard his flight with out going throught security, with out checking in at the ticket counter. He did board the flight first, and had to wait while the rest of us did as we were asked.

If we have learned anything from this, I think it is that we were very lax in our immigration and airport security. Rules that were in place were not followed. People who should have never been allowed to enter our country got in anyway, not even with false documents. People carried things onto airplanes that were on the "Not Allowed List", and no one noticed. Too many people died that day for nothing. I lived in the DC area for 32 years, I know a lot of people who worked in the Pentagon. I was lucky that no one I knew was in the area that was struck. I am so sorry for all those who lost loved ones, friends, co workers, even pets. We do need to remember this tragedy, we do need to be aware of our surroundings. We can't become compalcent again.

 

[AmazingGrace]

Here's actually a newspaper article that was written about my experience on 9/11

Loriann Zello

On Sept. 11, Loriann Zello dropped off her 2-year-old daughter at a friend’s house and took her two boys to Glenmore Elementary School, where she does volunteer work.

The day began as any other school day for the volunteer. Zello worked in Teresa Williams’ second-grade classroom, grading papers and stuffing folders.

“At about 9:30 or so, I started helping the kids with a reading assignment,” she said. “Over the intercom I heard that all teacher’s aides were to report to the office.”

“Gee, this doesn’t sound good,” an aide said as she left the room.

A few minutes later, the intercom crackled again, asking teachers to bring TVs with rabbit ear antennas to the office. Zello still didn’t know what was happening.

“I thought of the day the space shuttle blew up,” she said.

Then Williams handed her a slip of paper with news that a plane had crashed into a tower at the World Trade Center.

At first, Zello didn’t realize the seriousness of the news.

“Being from New Jersey, I had been in the towers, and I thought maybe the weather was bad, maybe a publicity stunt went wrong. It had to be an accident.”

Then aide Paula Gould called Zello into the hall and gave her another slip of paper, with the news of the Pentagon attack. But Zello said she still didn’t fully comprehend the scope of the disaster until she visited the school office and saw the televised reports.

She said she returned to the classroom in shock.

“None of the kids knew at that point,” she said. “My 8-year-old and all his classmates were blessedly unaware of what had happened.”

Teachers did not tell students about the attacks, but when a fourth-grader returned from a doctor’s appointment with the news, word spread to the upper grades.

Glenmore Principal Joyce Sprott and her staff worked hard to keep the children calm, Zello said.

“Due to the high military population at Glenmore, their job was especially stressful,” said Zello, whose husband, Tech Sgt. Rick Zello, is an instructor at Goodfellow.

The school had to deal with parents who were trapped on a locked-down base, she said. Office staff members worked the phones constantly that afternoon, making sure students had a place to go or someone to pick them up after school.

The school employees “were the epitome of grace under pressure,” she said.

Zello remained at the school for much of the morning, reading to children, “but my heart was just hurting, and I soon had to excuse myself,” she said. “I went to the cafeteria and loved on my son and left. I had to be let out of the building. Everything was locked. All the kids were sheltered. A part of me wanted to take my kids home, but I knew they’d be safe at Glenmore.”

Zello said she will never forget the horror of the televised images.

But, she added, she will also never forget the sanctuary Glenmore provided for so many children on that dark day.

“Those people shined"


__________________

 

[MaryAnnDVC]

I had just walked into the living room to see what time it was, because Mary Tyler Moore came on at 9:00 AM and I was going to change the channel. And that's when there was "breaking news" on the Today Show. (Those words scare the crap out of me now...I hold my breath waiting to hear what it means.) As Katie Couric and Matt Lauer spoke to an eyewitness, the other plane flew into the 2nd building. I remember the two of them in disbelief that the woman described another, very large, plane had crashed into the 2nd building, until they showed tape of it happening and you could see it.

For most of the rest of the day, I was on the DIS while watching the news. It's hard to believe that was 3 years ago...seems so fresh in my mind.

 

[talicskai]

As a Canadian I wept for my friends and relatives south of the border. As a travel agent I wept for an industry that would never be the same again. As a mother I wept for all the parents who would never see their children again. As a daughter I wept for all the little girls who would never see their mom or dad again. As a wife I wept for the spouses of firefighters, business men, pilots, flight attendants, maintenance crews etc.
As a Christian I wept for God.
How do make sense of something so horrific?
God Bless America and all who reside there.........

 

[LisaSt]

Driving to Toronto to collect our lottery winnings from our winning ticket my wife purchased while I was in Indianaoplis at an electronics convention for work. I remember getting off the plane in Detroit and seeing a sea of cop cars pull in lights and sirens going on the 9th of Sept. They hauled some guy out of the place with about 4 boxes that were wrapped in black shrink wrap or something and 3 suitcases and 2 carry ons have no idea what the heck was going on but it was sure quite a scene. We listen to CD's in the car so we had no clue what happened untill about 2:30 in the afternoon when my mom called us on the cell and asked if we had heard anything.

 

[EsmeraldaX]

I was at work. A group of us just gathered around one woman's office and held hands, hugged each other and despertaly tried to get word from our co-workers in New York.

I was on the subway when the first plane hit and did not know what was going on until I got to work. My co worker Andy said "There's been a terrorist attacK" and I didn't bat an eye because I figured he was either kidding, talking about something in a country where terrorism was rampant or something else that you hear in the news every day.

When I realized what happened, I just went numb. My first thought was, did my father have a flight today. My second thought was, oh god are there children on those planes? SHortly thereafter, I realized my friend Sabra was on a flight when the first plane hit. (She was okay, her flight made an emergency landing at the closest airport).

It took a while for my office to evacuate, but when we finally did, I was scared to go on the subway. I ended up sitting around a pub for a while with some friends from work and then went home. I was too shaken up to go to work the next day.

 

[Donnainnj]

Feb. 26th 1993, the first bombing, I was 9 months pregnant. Was watching TV when the news of the first bombing came through. I watched for a few hours, then couldn't anymore, took a nap, woke up and my water broke. Both my best friends went there to help, one is an RN, the other was an EMT at the time. We lived about 6 miles from the GW bridge then.

Sept. 11, 2001, was my youngest's first day of preschool. I had just dropped her off and the radio announced the first plane. I remember looking at the sky and thinking this could not be an accident. I got home and turned on the TV, at some point only one channel was working, we didn't have cable and the feed for most channels was from one of the towers. I called my aunt to ask which tower her future DIL worked in, she didn't know. I then tried to call DH who works in Jersey City. Couldn't get through. I got on the internet and e-mailed him. He was able to e-mail at some point. He had seen the 1st tower from NJ transit, and was going into disaster recovery mode. Most of the rest of his co-workers were up on the 7th floor watching as the 2nd plane went right over thier building and took a sharp turn to aim it into the Tower across the harbor. I watched on TV as the towers fell. I picked up DD from preschool, and the principal was out and hugged me, boy did I need that hug. I brought DD home, and the DH got through with a call, he said he didn't know if he would make it home that night as they were working disaster recovery for some of thier clients and that they were going to be taking over Cantor Fitz. back office stuff/recovery. That entailed doing what would normally take 6 months in a few days. No disaster recovery plan included the entire staff perishing. I went to get my older one from school at 3pm, had decided she would be better off staying the day, and one of the moms I new from soccer still didn't know if her husband who worked in the towers was ok. (he was) I remember calling my one best friend, her DH is NYPD and she said he was fine, he was deployed to city hall, and had been sleeping at home when it all started. Little did she know, he had arrived just as the 2nd tower had gone down, and was working the pit for about 10 hours before he nexteled her and let her know. My other best friend works at a hospital just across the harbor from the scene, and she went over on a ferry to help out. Really couldn't do anything, so sad. At about 11:30 pm DH got home after one of his co-workers dropped him off at his car at the train station in our town. He watched as they decontaminated everyone who came off the NJ transit trains. I remember hugging him real hard when he got home. I remember hearing to late that a lot of people were coming in on the ferries near our home, not knowing where they were, or how to get home. If I had known I would have been able to help out. I remember having a great need to help somehow. I tried to give blood, but they were overstocked, and there were very few that it could help. I remember hearing that when my Grandmother heard she threw up, she had lived through the depression, WW2 and all the events since, but this affected her worse then the rest.
37 souls died from my town, I did not know any of them personally, but found myself trying to through their obituaries over the next weeks and months.
My head hurts thinking about it in such detail again.
Donna

 

[CDoobee]

I was at home getting ready to take my then 5th grade DD to school. It was my day off. I was going to go to the local indoor pool for a water aerobics class I was taking with a friend/coworker. My DH called from work to tell me to put on the TV, that a plane had just hit the WTC. I didn't comprehend at first and thought (like most everyone else) that it was a small plane that hit by accident, and wondered why he was telling me to watch the TV when he knew I had to get DD to school. He was insistent though, so I turned it on. It was then, while talking to him on the phone, that we both saw the second plane hit. My heart sank and I couldn't move. I tried explaining it to DD, but how could I, when I didn't even understand? I wanted to keep her home, but wanted her day to be as normal as possible, so I took her to school even though she was late. I then called my parents and cried on the phone with them for a while. It was "Lunch with Grandparents Day" at my DD's school and I wasn't sure if they would still want to go. They decided they needed to go for her. I struggled all day with wanting to go pick her up. Even though I live in the Midwest nowhere near where all this tragedy was unfolding, I just wanted her close. I finally decided that since the school was not even 1/2 mile away, I could walk up and get her if anything should happen close to home. I did go up and meet my parents in the parking lot of the school, just so I could give them a hug and get a much-needed one in return. Needless to say, I never made it to my water aerobics class! My coworker went and didn't hear what had happened until after it was over. I spent most of the day on the DIS reading everyone's live accounts of what was happening. The TV was on behind me, but I was getting more info from those of you who were living it. I also remember very well how worried everyone was about Jaypd's safety, and how relieved we all were when we found out he was okay.

I was pretty much of an emotional wreck for months. My oldest DD had just gotten married and moved several states away about 2 months earlier. I was planning a surprise trip to WDW for my youngest DD and I in December. My DH had to go to Iceland (he's in the Air National Guard) for 3 months, which would leave my then 16 year old DS home alone while I went to WDW. I debated for a long time about whether we should go. I was so afraid of something happening close to home while DS was home alone. I was also afraid of him feeling deserted. Several people (including oldest DD) convinced me not to change my plans and I'm glad I didn't. We had a great trip and talked to DS daily. And we had Christmas in March after DH had returned home.

Even though I didn't personally lose anyone (thank God!), I still have a very hard time talking (or even thinking) about that day. I usually have to leave the room if anyone brings up the subject.

Debbie

 

[mommytutu]

Wow, Rick

I still can't read or hear a story without crying. I still get that lump in my throat as if I'm going to throw up from disgust of terrorists.

Well, I was home in bed. My dh was up getting ready for work and I just hadn't rolled out of bed. The phone rings, dh picks up and FIL says to turn on the TV. DH starts yelling for me to get out of bed a plane hit the World Trade Center. I'm watching and thinking what a horrible accident, then boom a second plane. "What the...? This ain't no accident, is it?" I'm frozen on the couch. The news cuts to smoke in D.C...."oh, no...it can't be". When the first tower fell I screamed out "It's falling, it's falling" and cried. DH was in the bathroom and hollers back "WHAT?" and I yell back that a tower was falling. When the second tower fell all I could say was "no, no, no" and "this can't be happening". I had NO IDEA that someone hated America so much and this scenerio seemed impossible. I spent the day glued to the TV, desperate for positive news, but then we hear about a fourth plane. DH and everyone else at his work stayed home. We were confused and really didn't know what to expect next. We went to chruch that night and prayed. I spent days watching TV...I was in awe of the workers and the spirit of New Yorkers.

Today, life has gone on and I hope we are all better for the lessons we learned on that fateful day. I think about all the people lost and thier friends and family...I think about children who lost a parent or both parents...I think about babies born in the months that followed and never gpt the opportunity to meet their fathers. I haven't forgotten.

 

[bigbabyblues]

I was sitting on the couch with my then 9-month old DS, feeling sorry for myself because he got me up early. Turned on the tv, and about 3 minutes later they started reporting about the first plane. We sat there most of the day, watching it on TV, my baby and I. I knew how lucky I was to have him, and we were safe, and I didn't feel bad for being up early anymore. He didn't have a clue of course, but I held onto him, and cried, and I didn't even get dressed until lunchtime. I called off work for the afternoon, then I called my DH several times, just to make sure he was ok, even though we live nowhere near NY, DC, or that field in PA. DH came home early, then my aunt (more like my sister, she's 8 years older than me and we were raised together by my grandparents) called from her neighbor's house and asked if by any chance I had her from her ex-husband. Uh, no, why would he call me? She said he knew our phone number, and she didn't have a phone at the time and he was one of the workers helping to do the construction work on the Pentagon. No one had heard from him, and she couldn't get in touch with his mom or sisters. If he would have been at work that day, he would have been there at the time it was hit with the rest of his crew, but fortunately he was sick that day.

What a horrible day for our country. I remember clearly sitting there with my baby, feeling helpless to do anything, and very scared.

 

[sue1013]

It started off as a normal Tuesday morning. Got off the Path in the Trade Center went outside Tues & Thursday they had the green grocer so I stopped to get rugalah (sp?) and headed on my way down Broadway. Stopped got my coffee then went to my office. Got in my boss was the only other one in we were talking a couple minutes later heard this loud noise looked out the window (facing Broadway) didn't see anything, the phone rang it was a friend of my boss's said a plane hit the Trade Center we thought it was some kind of small plane. My DH called after that he had heard wanted to check on me while we were on the phone another loud noise but this time the whole building shook we lost power and phone connection. Emergency generators kicked on in the halls and stairway along with the sirens. We started walking down the stairs not knowing what was going on. I was holding Jack's (boss) hand, he was trying to be brave, everyone in the stairway was in total panic. Even though he was trying to keep me calm each landing we came to I could see his face which got paler as we went down. When we got to the lobby someone had a transistor radio then we knew. Looked out the front door there were tons of firemen running up toward the Trade Center. A cop came in the building and told us to stay inside it was safer than out on the street. Then we heard the Pentagon had been hit. A couple people left but the majority stayed since there were reports that other planes were still in the air and it was definately a terrorist attack. We didn't know were they done with NY? Then I could feel a rumble starting the building shook again, the 1st tower fell. As we looked out the front doors a huge ball of smoke came rolling down Broadway, it got black as midnight. A man came running in the building covered with dust, when he came in of course the dust came in with him. In a few seconds the entire lobby was covered in gray dust. I started thinking about people I knew that worked in the Trade Center and downtown. Next thing I remember I was feeling that rumble start again, the 2nd had fallen. After a while we decided to leave. We each got a wet towel from the maintenance guys and headed out. The smoke, dust & debris was incredible. Good thing we had those towels we wouldn't have been able to breathe at all without them. It was a war zone on the streets. Cars abandoned, shoes, papers, everyone just had a blank look. We walked down towards Battery Park trying to find a way out. The sight of the people walking over the Brooklyn Bridge was what finally brought the tears. I said to Jack we are like war refugees. Ended up by the Wall St. pier. All kinds of boats were coming in taking people off the island. We ended up on some kind of small boat that only about 30 people could get on. That boat took us to Liberty State Park which we had to go right by the Trade Center I couldn't look kept my head towards Jersey. Finally we were able to get a call out on the cell phone for a few seconds but at least we could get word out that we were ok. From there we were bussed to another area of Jersey City then bussed to Newark then finally to my train home. It took about 5 hours for a normally hour commute. When I got off the train DH asked where's Joe a friend that commuted on the same train. I told him Joe was lucky he wasn't on the train that morning. He got this horrible look on his face and said there's his car. Sadly Joe didn't make it. He missed the usual train and caught the next one. He had a meeting in the Trade Center that morning since he missed the train he didn't go to his office before the meeting.
As bad as that day was it was so hard going back. It was so so sad all the pictures, familes looking for their loved ones. They were just everywhere.

 

[SC Minnie]

Rick-- That was a very moving story. You have such a way with words you should be a writer.

I was at work. Our receptionist is a very good friend and listens to the radio in the mornings. She called me and said a plane it the WTC. Like everyone else I thought it was just an accident. I turned my radio on to the talk station. I told my coworker what had happened and he didn't believe me. A few minutes later we went into one of our conference rooms and watched to news. We had about 150 people in this building and everyone was around a television in a conference room somewhere. We stood or sat and watch in horror as the the second tower came down. There was just a gasped. Absolutely no work got done here that day. Our corporate offices in Portland at the time closed because they were in downtown and their building was a potential target.

DD was in second grade and her teacher explained what had happened (knowing they were going to hear about it). She did an excellant of talking to the kids and keeping them from being afraid. DH and watched the news coverage that evening. The next evening we watched again. DD started to show signs of being afraid so we had to curtail the news while she was around. When she asked me 'Mommy, why do some people do things like that to hurt people they don't even know?' How do you answer a question like that????

The next sunday in church there was not an empty seat. Chairs had to be brought in from class rooms. Our pastor broke down in tears during the prayer. There was not a dry eye in the whole church.

We weren't in NY or DC but even in a small town in SC we were affected. Our prayers went out to the people of both cities. Many organizations and churchs sent people to NY to help with the aftermath. It is something that I will never forget. It has changed our lives and out country forever.

 

[geffric]

It started like a normal day.. I went to workout at 5 am, caught the 7:10 into the city. I work at Sears Tower.. I walked from the train to the office, stopped at Starbucks for coffee took the elevator up and walked into work. I turned on my 'puter, went to comb my hair, when the man in the next cube said " a plane just hit the WTC in NY". We all went to gather around his computer, when over the loud speaker it was announced that the Sears Tower was closed and all were asked to leave immediately. We looked at each other, like is this a joke?? Another announcement came over the loud speaker, we packed up and left. As i left the building a reporter from WGN news stuck a microphone in my face and asked my how i felt??? I explained that i had no idea what had happened or what he was talking about... so he had to tell me.. I walked to the train in total shock and disbelief. Other offices were closing too. I called my family. The train was packed but we did get home unlike other fellow workers in the Towers in NY. I went home and was glued to the TV and baked bread..

 

[Trish Bessette]

Very nice job Rick, thank you!

I was at work, all alone. The guy who works in the office next to our ran in and said one of the towers was hit. I turned on this little TV I had hidden in my cabinet that I brought into work for this very reason. I stood in disbelief as I saw the second plane fly into the second tower.

I was numb. The only person who called my office was my husband and my dad. I remember calling my dad back to say one had hit the pentagon. Then calling him back again on his cell phone to say that some are in the air and they think they are heading towards the White House.

I called my daughters school, I don't know why, I guess to make sure they were okay.

I ended up locking the doors at work around noon, going to my daughters school and taking them out early. Just so I can go home and hug them.

 

[theSurlyMermaid]

Originally posted by jennyanydots
I almost forgot -- my cousin got married on the saturday after 9/11.

Jewish tradition says you cannot cancel a wedding even in the face of tragedy.

it was a strange affair -- but we needed something to reaffirm that life goes on.

So did I. In Washington D.C., where my parents live. DH and I lived in NYC at the time.

A majority of our guests were from Boston, NYC or Washington D.C. Needless to say, we had a few cancellations.

I will never forget returning home to my apartment in Gramercy and seeing a figure 8 shaped pile of ash on the floor. My dogs ran over to sniff it and immediately backed away. I just cleaned it up as fast as I could.

 

[spearenb]

Myself, my wife, and my DD2 (at that time) was eating breakfast with Pooh and friends at Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom that morning. Everything was very nice and not a word had leaked at that point. We went and saw Mickey in his tent and when we finished, we made the right hand turn towards the playground, there was not a soul to be seen for at least 50 yards. There, a manager and a few CMs were ushering people to leave the park and when asked, the manager just said that 'due to events in the world, Disney was closing early that day.'

We started overhearing people with Web/Cell phones saying that planes flew into the WTC but we didn't want to believe them. I actually tried to call work to find out what was going on but they were all out of the office watching TV. Not until we made it back into our rooms at the WL and saw for ourself did we realize what had happened. Not to be selfish, but a little while after that we realized that Disney could be a target too! So we were a little apprehensive after that point.

I believe we stayed another day or two enjoying (as much as we could) the parks low attendance. The planes had started to fly again but there was no way my wife was going to get on one so we decided to drive back to WV. We picked up a co-worker in Jacksonville on the way back and had a very quiet, news radio filled trip.

9/11 - we will never forget! Prayers to all.

 

[Kimberle]

About 2 weeks prior, we flew back from our first family vacation at WDW. As we flew "down 5th ave" (at least that's what it felt like), I remember looking at the towers and pointing them out to my then 2.5 yo. I had no idea it would be the last time I would ever see them.

9/11, I was in my office about 25-30 miles from NYC. One of my employees said "there's some sort of terrist attack at the towers, a plane flew into one." I remember thinking, no way, must have been an accident. We all started searching for any info we could find.

My dh is a consultant and works in NYC nearly every day. He was scheduled to be at a building RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET from the towers at **9:00** that morning. He is ALWAYS EARLY for his appt's. I was so afraid he would have gotten hit by the debre. I could not reach him on his cell.

Everybody in my office was panicing. We all had family & friends who work in the city.

Prayers were answered even before they were said as he changed his appt at the very last minute until 11:00. He was in mid-town when this happened. I still did not know. I could not reach him until around 12:30. He got out of the city on one of the last running trains that day.

I remember going to the dock (my office is right on Long Island Sound) and watching the smoke, smelling the smell, feeling the haze......

I do not know anybody who was in the towers at that time. I do have many, many friends who had loved ones in the towers or were scheduled to be in them but where running late that day.