Where Were You? (Inspired by JFK thread)

[CourtasanSatine]

Where were you when major news stories happened? From 9/11 to Princess Diana to Aaliyah to the Space Shuttle,tell your stories

 

[dturner]

9/11 - sitting at my desk at work; I was in the Big Brother 2 chat room and someone said that a plane just hit the WTC - then tried to get on CNN and couldn't so I called home and had my DH tell me what was going on, went home shortly after the first tower fell, so sad!

Princess Diana - I had heard of the car accident before I went to bed and they were saying at first that she was allright then my DH came and woke me up telling me that she had died - I couldn't sleep after that and watched the TV news coverage - so sad!

Aaliyah - didn't know until I woke up that Sunday morning and they were talking about it on CNN.

Space Shuttle - I woke up as it exploded overhead and thought "what was that?" I immediately went outside and looked, didn't see anything, turned on the TV and they were just saying "what happened, were did it go?" - really sad since it woke me up!!

 

[tkyes]

9/11 - at work also. I read it on the DIS, but it took a minute for it to register. We turned on a TV here at work to get more details.

Princess Diana - I was camping with DHs family. A family member came to join us and told us the news.

Aaliyah - don't remember.

Space Shuttle - Challenger? That's the one I remember. I was in probably 4th grade and our entire class was watching it on tv since there was a teacher onboard. It was horrible.

 

[tkd lisa]

9/11 had just dropped DD off at school on my way to work. Weirdest thing was that she had thrown a tremendous fit saying she couldn't stay at school. It was almost like she knew something was really wrong.

Don't remember on Diana or Aliyah.

When Elvis died (showing my age here!) I was driving the car and heard it on the radio. They played one of his songs, and said in tribute to the King.

First space shuttle crash (Challenger), I was in an before school (high school) quiz team practice, 2nd one (Columibia) I was folding laundry when the news broke.

When Regan got shot, I was also in a high school quiz team practice. Hadn't thought about that before. Two biggest news stories in my high school, and I was at quiz team for both of them.

 

[daughter_of_amid_chaos]

9/11--At all school meeting..I was a junior in high school.

Princess Diana--Sitting on my mom's bedroom floor reading and when i saw the special news report freaking out because i thought it was severe weather.

TWA--Watching the coast guard planes fly over my grandparent's cottage.

JFK, Jr.--Watching TV before going to work. IT was happening right in front of us as the search was headed out of my town.

Columbia--Building a bridge for physics.

 

[honeywolf7]

9/11 - I was sending e-mails back and forth with someone and she asked me if I had my TV on....I told her no (I had turned it off because they kept showing one of the Broncos getting his leg broken which had happened the night before and I was tired of seeing it....funny it seemed like such a big deal at the time) and she then e-mailed back, "you might want to turn it on, because a plane just hit the World Trade Center in New York and it looks like it might have been on purpose." I turned on the TV in time to see the second plane hit.

Princess Diana - I woke up hungover from the night before (I had gone out with a friend) and at first I thought maybe I was still tipsy because it was hard for me to believe that I was hearing right....I also remember thinking at first (before they said Princess Di's name) that maybe they were talking about Madonna or some actress.

Aaliyah - not sure

Space Shuttle - Challenger-I was in fourth grade art class and our art teacher came in and told us to pray (I went to a Catholic school) because the Challenger had just exploded....Some of the boys were laughing, but I started crying and so were several of the other girls in the class.)
Columbia-I was with my son in a hospital room where he was because of his asthma.

JFK, Jr.-I was at home....Thom was at work and when he got home, I told him and we started watching the coverage together.

 

[BabyLove99]

9/11--It was still summer vacation for me, so I was at home sleeping. My mom woke me up and told me that planes had hit the Pentagon and World Trade Center. I was still sleepy and hadn't fully comprehended what was going on, I remember asking her if we were still going to the mall (we were supposed to go with my best friend and her family, kind of ironic, my friend asked her mom that same question too). I got up and went online to read the news and that was when I realized this was something major.

Princess Diana--I remember I had come home from the shore the night before. That morning I woke up and walked into the kitchen, my mom told me that Princess Diana had died.

JFK Jr.--I had been sleeping over my friends house with another friend of ours. My friend's mom LOVED JFK Jr. I remember her telling us what happened and she was devastated.

Columbia--I was in Disney World with my 2 cousins and friend. We were getting ready to go to the MK, and were watching the news. It said the Columbia had exploded and kept showing footage. We kept getting the news from my cousin's cell phone all day and night, seeing if there was any new information. I remember in the MK, the flags surrounding the "Liberty Bell" were all at half mast. I have a picture of it and it's so eerie looking.

 

[grinningghost]

9/11 - At home. Had "Little House on the Prairie" on TV when DH called me from work and said to put on the news.

Princess - At home again.

Aaliyah - Don't remember, I wasn't a fan so I don't think it had much impact on me.

Challenger - At work at Chi-Chi's.

Columbia - At home. Was watching the news to see it land and then something went horribly wrong.

 

[JimB.]

9/11 - Had just gotten off shift & was home. TV was off, but I was surfing the DIS & 1st read about it on this board. Shortly after, the phone rang & it was the Battalion Chief's office telling everyone to Not Leave Town.

Princess Di - At work. Heard about it about 5 a.m.

Challenger - Was at a class at Cecil Field Naval Air Station. We went outside to watch, only to hear the launch had been delayed for a short while. Went back inside & 1st saw the horrible video at lunch at the Officer's Bar (the world famous "Rocket 17") at the BOQ. I remember the day being bright, clear and brutally cold.

President Reagan - I had recently graduated from college & was on temporary duty at the Naval ROTC Unit at the University of Florida.

Aliyah - not sure.

Apollo 11 - watched it (the landing) from the Florida Room of my house in Satellite Beach, FL. Watched the launch from Kennedy Space Center, about 3 miles from the launch site.

 

[Cruise04]

Princess Diana - lived at my dad's and woke up on Sunday morning and he said she had died. We were glued to the tv the rest of the day.

Challenger - I was in science class in high school and the principal came into our room and told us - we were the only room that had a radio and they wanted to get it so they could keep updated on what was happening. It was so sad - one of the girls in my class knew one of the people on board.

Aaliayah - have no clue who this is

John, Jr - I happened to be home that day and had the tv on and I remember when they came on and said his plane had disappeared. I was in total shock because I couldn't imagine being Caroline and being the only one left in her family. I felt so sad for her.

Ronald Reagan - again I was in school. They pulled the older grades into the library to watch the happenings on TV. It was important to us because I lived just about 30 minutes from his boyhood town. Again very scary and hit very close to home. This was my first experience with a potential national tragedy.

9/11 - I had just gotten to work and someone came by office and asked if I had heard about the plane that hit the WTC and I said - what? Then turned on the radio and it all went downhill from there. If it had been a week later - I would have been in total panic as my husband was flying to Pennsylvania on United. My heart sunk! I remember how my office opened itself up to others to help in anyway we could.

Columbia - was getting ready to start painting my bathroom and the news came over with special report and they said they had lost communication with the shuttle. The first thing I thought, before they came on air, was something had happened overseas or here in regard to the Bin Laden situation or something to that regard.

 

[goofygirl]

Diana- I was at home waiting for Sat Night Live to come on, and the news broke that she was dead. It was so shocking to me. I could not sleep. It was like someone I knew died.

Aliyah- tell you the truth, I had no clue who she was until she died!

9/11- I was at work when a patient told us she'd heard on her car radio that "a plane crashed into the WTC, and it was hijacked." We all found radios and tv's and heard the news unfold from there. It was so scary!! I never felt so vulnerable.

Ted Williams- the reason his death stands out for me is because I was at a MLB game when I found out. I was at a Pirates game in PNC Park, they announced his death and paid homage to him with a video before the game. I had not seen TV at all that day, so I did not know until the game that he died that day.

Challenger- I was in high school and the teacher told us he heard the news from another teacher that the shuttle blew up. We were shocked the rest of the day.

 

[sue1013]

Princess Di - Heard she was in an accident before falling asleep on the couch. Next morning TV was still on heard she ha died.

WTC - Worked 2 blocks away heard a huge noise that rattled the windows. Couple minutes later someone called and told us a plane hit the Trade Center. I had just been there about 10 minutes before. The second plane rattled the windows and we lost power on and off. By far the scariest day of my life.

 

[AirForceRocks]

9/11 - I was at work when someone came in yelling about a plane hitting the WTC.

Challenger - It was my day off, and I was eating lunch with a friend. We watched it take off on CNN, then walked outside to watch the vapor trail go up. We saw the split, which seemed odd, then heard what happened when we went back into the diner.

Columbia - I was washing the breakfast dishes when it came over the radio that NASA had lost contact with the shuttle. Ran in to the TV and saw the debris trails in the sky.

Ronald Reagan - I was having a sandwich made at the Publix deli for my lunch when one of the ladies in the back heard it on the radio and came out to tell us.

Princess Diana - I was flipping through the TV channels when it caught my eye on CNN.

Oklahoma City - I was working search and recovery at the site of a military plane crash when our NCOIC brought us back to the mobile command post to tell us about the bombing.

TWA Flight 800 - Driving home from the pizza shop.

Pan Am 103 - Playing poker at the home of my future in-laws.

Another incident that I vividly remember is when the Sunshine Skyway bridge was hit and collapsed. I was pulling into the parking lot at school when the news came over the radio.

 

[snoopy]

9/11 - driving to work when I heard about the WTC, driving to school to get my kids when I heard about the 2nd tower, and driving home to D.C. when I heard about the Pentagon.

Oklahoma City - in the hospital, I had just given birth to my oldest son.

Diana - like GG, I was watching Saturday Night Live when a special news report came on. DH was away on business, and my sister was sleeping over that night. We stayed up all night and watched the news as it unfolded.

Challenger - I was in college, in a filmmaking class. I remember someone coming to talk to the professor, him excusing himself from the room, and coming back and telling us the terrible news.

Columbia - I think I found out here on the DIS, if I am not mistaken.

John Lennon - I was 17 when he died, I remember it well because my parents were huge fans. When I woke up that morning I thought maybe my grandmother had died, my mother was distraught and crying and my father looked forlorn. I was sort of relieved at first that it wasn't my grandmother! Then I learned how tragically he died, and realized how horrible it was.

 

[Allie322]

9/11...Had just dropped off MIL at her office and headed back home. Had on a rock 'n roll station where the morning DJs are pretty funny and prone to jokes, impersonations, etc. I heard them saying something about WTC and initially thought it was another of their skits. Very quickly realized it was no joke. Got home, put the tv on and cried.

Challenger...On my way to a Public Relations class at Bryant College. We studied and analyzed how NASA handled the tragedy for the rest of the semester. It was really a fascinating perspective from which to look at it all.

Oklahoma City...comforting my best friend who had just buried her stillborn daughter three days previously. Really a time of great sadness for us.

A close to home tragedy...THe Station NightClub fire in West Warwick RI in February 2003...Turned on the TV first thing in the morning to catch the weather and stared in disbelief that they thought perhaps as many as 39 people had died. Sadly the final total was 100.

 

[CourtasanSatine]

9/11: I was on campus after taking a math test.I had gone to the computer lab to check my emial since I had 2 hours between classes and the lab tech told everyone what happened.I along with others searched site after site for news along with a radio borrowed from another room

Aaliyah: I had just watched Romeo Must Die on dvd when I took the disc out.MTV had just broke the news when I turned the tv on

Princess Diana: News when The Practice had a crawl through the show

Columbia: on the radio while running to the video store to return a move


I'll add as I remeber

 

[Robinrs]

JFK == I posted my experience on Dan's thread.

9/11 - I was at work watching it occur in the snack room. It took me awhile before I realized what was happening to my hometown...

Princess Di: I was home in bed watching it happen on TV. The first thing I heard was that Dodie was dead, then they confirmed that she had died, also. It just didn't seem real...

Aaliyah: I was at my parents home. I had just met her the month earlier and thought she was a little living DOLL. When my Mom told me what happened I thought she was kidding.... A week later I bought a beautiful black long haired kitten and I named her Aaliyah. To this day she reminds me of her...

Columbia: I was pregnant and home sick with my first son. My Dad was on his way over to get me some juice. The news was on when I opened the door and that's when it happened. I remember the two of us just standing there with the door open just in shock!!

 

[moinab]

Reagan shot - at the credit union, after school, waiting for my friend's mom. Someone announced it to everyone there. We went to my friend's house and watched the footage replayed for hours.

Challenger - senior year of high school, psychology class, 5th period. The principal announced it over the intercom and asked for a minute of silence. Our teacher started crying.

Oklahoma City - at home, watching tv when it happened.

Diana - My roommate told me about the crash before I went to bed. They had announced that Dodi was killed. I thought to myself that Diana was going to start a full-scale war with the papparazzi after this. When I turned on the news in the morning and discovered she had died, I was shocked. I sobbed watching her funeral when they showed the card from her sons on the coffin.

9/11 - standing in my kitchen, washing dishes while DS (who had just turned 1 yo) was playing with Cheerios in his high chair. I had the Today show on in the other room, but I wasn't paying attention. DH called from work and told me to turn the news on and tell him what was happening. I walked up to the tv just in time to see the second plane hit. I picked DH up from work after the first tower fell. As we were driving home, he was really spooked because he noticed a Korean Air jet landing at MSP. He had worked for Northwest when he was in college, and knew full well that that jet shouldn't be landing in Minnesota. As we soon learned, all flights were being diverted and grounded. It was just surreal to see it.

Columbia - In the hospital. I had just given birth to DD the day before. Our nurse came into the room and told us we might want to change the channel to the news (we were watching The Disney Channel!)

 

[tkyes]

I forgot about Oklahoma City - I was sitting in a student lounge at college eating my lunch. They broke into the Price is Right to show everything that was happening. It was very surreal.

 

[KathyFP]

911 - In the hospital and watched everything unfold with my Dr.

Princess Dianan - on the net chatting with a friend who told me what happenned.