where were you 7 years ago

[butterfly 17]

My husband and I were both at home when it occurred. We were watching TV and could not believe that it was true.

It''s wierd, but I had actually been at the WTC on 9/7, just 4 days before it all happened. I had purchased a lipgloss at Sephora there and I still have the lipgloss and the receipt in my closet.

I watched some of the memorial today and my tears were overflowing. My heart really goes out to all the victims and their families....

 

[NYCsparkle]

i was in brooklyn watching the horror from my classroom window.

my room had a direct view....now i just see the empire state building.

 

[Diamond*Dana]

I was a nanny at the time and my 2 year old son and I had just dropped the kids off at school...I was driving back to the house when I heard them talking about the first tower being hit. A few minutes later, I was at the house with the TV on and saw the second plane hit...it was awful.

I think about how much my own life has changed since that horrifying day...instead of one child I now have three...I no longer nanny but instead went back working as a nurse. My life has continued with so many blessings, while those victims never had a chance

 

[diamondfan]

I was very pregnant. I was driving to a meeting at a country club near our home and had stopped for gas, hubby was on the train right outside of NYC.

I heard the first report that a plane hit the WTC. Figured, it must be a small commuter plane, how awful. Then, the second one hit and we all knew it was bad. I called my husband right away and could not get him, tried again and did. At first he thought it was a small plane too, and since his meetings were in midtown he did not get off when he could (the exit before Newark), then he said he almost jumped off in Newark but was not quick enough. I think they could see the smoke from the train. It was awful.

He ended up in NYC, wandered around for hours, say the people covered in the dust. A friend of ours was general manager of the Waldorf and got him a room. He stayed in it watching tv and trying to figure out how to get home. I think eventually he went to Penn Station and managed to get on Amtrak heading south.

I left the meeting when we saw just how bad it was. My kids were so small and our school chose not to tell the lower school kids anything. I grabbed them and came home. I did not let my sons see the television and I did not tell them daddy was there. My oldest saw the image of the plane hitting the tower. He was upset, I told him not to worry, it was a movie. He was always a sensitive kid. Turned out my husband had mentioned he was going to NYC to them the night before, so my oldest knew. I was so worried. Then in the middle of this we got the call that my husband's cousin was on American's flight from Boston that hit the tower. He had three kids, one in Europe who could not even get home to be with her family. He was not even supposed to be on that flight, he decided to leave Tuesday morning instead of Monday morning in order to attend an event the Monday night, so on Monday the 10th he changed his flight.

It was so surreal, and I recall watching it ALL day and night and being unable to not watch it, though it was heart rendering. I could not tear myself away from seeing people and hearing their stories, like Lisa Beamer. And thinking about all of those wives and parents and siblings and kids who would never see their family member again, someone who just went off to work like it was a regular day, and was in a terrifying horror. It fills me with such fear even now to think of what their last moments were like, when they really realized what was happening. Our lives have not really been the same since.

My husband drove 8 hours to Boston to be there for the Memorial, they did not have remains for many years. I met him once when we lived in L.A. and he was a great guy. It just was sad for all people, just felt this terrible heartache. Each day the stories of individuals, the photos of them being posted by family, just got to me. I know many people who were personally affected and lost someone.

I admired the brave firemen and other rescue workers, and feel sad for those who have gotten ill and died from breathing all those terrible fumes and chemicals in trying to save lives and clean up down there.

One of the worst things to me was people trying to profit off of this tragedy and bilk insurance companies and things like that. Lowest of the low in my book.

 

[Octavia]

I was a sophomore in college. I remember coming back from the shower and switching on the radio to listen as I got dressed, and the DJ or announcer or whoever was yelling "a second plane...a second plane has just hit the towers..." I had no idea what he was talking about, and he never identified what was happening, just kept talking about fires and smoke, so I turned on my computer and pictures were already up on the MSN homepage. At that point nobody had released much information, and I just felt numb, with no idea what to do, so I went to my class. The professor was crying too hard to teach, so she canceled class, and most of us went to the campus center. They had the news up on the giant screen, and there were hundreds of people there -- some crying but most people in shock, hugging one another...it was very quiet. When we found out about the Pentagon plane, one of my good friends nearly went hysterical because her brother works there. Only later did I find out that one of my cousins, who is a Navy pilot, was nearly on the Pentagon helipad (directly in the path of the plane) but had been delayed at his departure site by some messed-up paperwork.

I know people who lost friends and family in NYC that day, but I know of so many more near-misses, it''s really scary. The burnt toast, phone call, missed train, whatever it was that kept people from getting to the office on time. I''ve been sitting here trying to think of appropriate words to end this, but all I can do is cry...

 

[jewelerman]

Date: 9/11/2008 11:37:47 PM
Author: diamondfan
I was very pregnant. I was driving to a meeting at a country club near our home and had stopped for gas, hubby was on the train right outside of NYC.

I heard the first report that a plane hit the WTC. Figured, it must be a small commuter plane, how awful. Then, the second one hit and we all knew it was bad. I called my husband right away and could not get him, tried again and did. At first he thought it was a small plane too, and since his meetings were in midtown he did not get off when he could (the exit before Newark), then he said he almost jumped off in Newark but was not quick enough. I think they could see the smoke from the train. It was awful.

He ended up in NYC, wandered around for hours, say the people covered in the dust. A friend of ours was general manager of the Waldorf and got him a room. He stayed in it watching tv and trying to figure out how to get home. I think eventually he went to Penn Station and managed to get on Amtrak heading south.

I left the meeting when we saw just how bad it was. My kids were so small and our school chose not to tell the lower school kids anything. I grabbed them and came home. I did not let my sons see the television and I did not tell them daddy was there. My oldest saw the image of the plane hitting the tower. He was upset, I told him not to worry, it was a movie. He was always a sensitive kid. Turned out my husband had mentioned he was going to NYC to them the night before, so my oldest knew. I was so worried. Then in the middle of this we got the call that my husband''s cousin was on American''s flight from Boston that hit the tower. He had three kids, one in Europe who could not even get home to be with her family. He was not even supposed to be on that flight, he decided to leave Tuesday morning instead of Monday morning in order to attend an event the Monday night, so on Monday the 10th he changed his flight.

It was so surreal, and I recall watching it ALL day and night and being unable to not watch it, though it was heart rendering. I could not tear myself away from seeing people and hearing their stories, like Lisa Beamer. And thinking about all of those wives and parents and siblings and kids who would never see their family member again, someone who just went off to work like it was a regular day, and was in a terrifying horror. It fills me with such fear even now to think of what their last moments were like, when they really realized what was happening. Our lives have not really been the same since.

My husband drove 8 hours to Boston to be there for the Memorial, they did not have remains for many years. I met him once when we lived in L.A. and he was a great guy. It just was sad for all people, just felt this terrible heartache. Each day the stories of individuals, the photos of them being posted by family, just got to me. I know many people who were personally affected and lost someone.

I admired the brave firemen and other rescue workers, and feel sad for those who have gotten ill and died from breathing all those terrible fumes and chemicals in trying to save lives and clean up down there.

One of the worst things to me was people trying to profit off of this tragedy and bilk insurance companies and things like that. Lowest of the low in my book.

i am so sorry for your loss...my best friend lost his little brother who was working in the Pentagon that day...he left his bride of 9 months behind.I agree that our lives have not been the same.

 

[matildawong]

I was working in the newsroom of a big newspaper in NC. We watched on the newsroom tvs: saw the smoke coming from the first tower and then, in slow-motion terror, watched the second plane hit. And then the newsroom went into a frenzy. Most of the building worked all night and we put out two editions of our paper (it was a one edition daily)... I think it was easier to work non-stop than to have to feel the sickening emotions for very long.

My dad is a retired airline pilot. He was on a trip that day that took off around 8 a.m. and would be going up and down the East Coast. He was in the air at the time the planes hit the towers and his flight was routed to Florida and grounded. I wonder what they told him over the radio, etc.. but when I ask he merely says they were told to land their planes and that it wasn''t until they were on the ground that they got more information.

My heart goes out to everyone who lost someone.

 

[pennquaker09]

I was in high school. I was in my first period AP US history class. We turned the TV on and watched it the whole entire period. It was horrible.

 

[MrsRogers]

I don''t post often here, but read this thread and just felt compelled to share my story.

I was 21 and had just moved to the states. I was in bed and a friend called telling me to turn my television on right away. I was gobsmacked, confused, and a little nervous to say the least.
It wasn''t until I heard about the plane crashing into the pentagon that I became quite panicked and scared. My husband was in the area on business and staying in a hotel across the freeway with the pentagon in full view. He happened to be walking out of the hotel to come home to Seattle at the exact moment the plane flew into the pentagon (we have photos buried in a photo box somewhere). He was promptly ushered back into the hotel and I didn''t get to see him for almost a week and a half after the 11th. Needless to say phone calls were few and far between due to the congestion of the phone lines during that time, so it was quite a nerve wracking time for me, as well as hubby.
I''m the kind to worry about people flying and making it safely to their destination, but I have never been so happy to see someone arrive safely after a flight then I was the day hubby came home.

 

[diamondfan]

Mrs. R, that sounds so scary! I am glad he made it home. Must have been horrific to be so close. I know it affected my hubby.

 

[Lynnie]

I was in college. It was the 3rd day or so of class, and my english teacher had told us the room # would be changing on the 11th. I wrote it down, but had left the paper at my BF''s (now FI) house. So I called him to get the room #, and he was like "A plane flew into the WTC!". At first it didn''t really register, I was not in front of the tv, and was in a rush to get to class. Then he said something like "Holy S^&#, another plane just hit the other building". I don''t think a lot of people at school knew much about what was going on, and when I got to class, the teacher filled us in and the whole school was let out. I live in Philly PA, and school was in Center City, and the subway was absolute madness. I couldn''t get calls through on my cell, people were rushing to the subway... they actually opened up the terminals so you didn''t have to pay. I got to the terminal closer to home, got to a payphone and called my mom at work. She was freaking out because her sister worked at the Pentagon - and she couldn''t get a hold of her. I ended up walking home (a LONG walk, but the terminal was insane), and driving to my mom''s work. By then she had heard from her sister. She was fine, but a mess. She''s a general in the Army, and had two offices. One at the Pentagon and one in another building closeby. She was at the other building at the time. But had she been at the pentagon - I don''t wanna even think about it. Her office was disintegrated, and she lost a lot of co-workers and friends. Such a sad day, I will never forget sitting there mesmerized by the tv. All those horrid pictures. My heart goes out to all who''ve lost a loved one...

 

[swimmer]

Thank you everyone for sharing. So interesting where people were in their lives. So sad that so many did not have our opportunities.

I was teaching high school, that semester course on Facing History and Ourselves was totally changed by that day. We didn''t have TV access so were listening to NPR on my ancient little radio that I have for snow updates...it was like something out of WWII, kids sitting on the floor clustered around a radio, crying a bit, scared for the future, not sure what was going on. Three of those boys became Marines, all served in Afghanistan. One student''s brother worked in tower 4 with my cousin. They were safe, but we did not know till that night. Our school lost 5 members of the community, including a pilot who many teachers remembered as a student.

 

[cbs102]

Linda,
This was the first year that i watched a documentary on 9/11 and i was appalled by what i was seeing... body after body falling to the earth. it made my stomach turn and i wanted to throw up. the documentary was actually pretty interesting 102 minutes on the history channel... but i will NEVER watch another one again because they showed the people falling.

 

[Linda W]

Date: 9/12/2008 10:21:29 AM
Author: cbs102
Linda,

This was the first year that i watched a documentary on 9/11 and i was appalled by what i was seeing... body after body falling to the earth. it made my stomach turn and i wanted to throw up. the documentary was actually pretty interesting 102 minutes on the history channel... but i will NEVER watch another one again because they showed the people falling.

That is where we watched it too. It was interesting, but we thought the same thing. You are right we will never ever watch it again. Once was enough!!!!!

 

[Beacon]

I woke up, put on CNBC like I do every morning and whammo, there it was. I ran upstairs to get my husband out of bed and he was annoyed that I was telling him to get up early. I told him, "there''s a problem." Something in my voice must have gotten through cause he popped out of bed sooo fast.

My husband''s family lives in NY and I used to live in Manhattan too.

I was doing some consulting work at a software firm in Silicon Valley. I called my boss there and told her I would be coming in late. She was quite annoyed by this. "How late?," she wanted to know. I honestly wanted to smack her. I told her my husband''s family was in NY and we needed to sort things out. That boss of mine had no clue how bad this was or what it meant or anything.

I went into work and was totally unproductive. After a while they told us we should all go home. I really was mad at my boss by then. She seemed to have no sympathy. I''ll try and be charitable, maybe she was just overwhelmed. None the less, I never could stand her after that.

When I got home I found out that many of my NYC friends had watched the planes hit and seen the towers come down. I used to work for a consulting firm that was owned by an investment bank located in the WTC. I kept thinking about that, and the meetings I had there and how I never did like being in that building (it swayed) and how it was all gone. I could not imagine it.

My FIL had just dropped my brother in law off at Newark airport the morning of 9/11, just before the attack. BIL was supposed to go somewhere, never left the airport. My FIL watched the whole thing from the NJ side.

My ex knew one of the guys who was in the plane bound for SFO. He was young and had just made a fortune co-founding a dot com that had gone public. The company is still successful. He left three kids. The whole thing was surreal, still is.

 

[Linda W]

Beacon, I am so sorry you had to go through all of this. And shame on your boss.


Linda

 

[SarahLovesJS]

I first heard about it during my first period Algebra class in high school. My teacher thought the kid was joking when he walked by and said someone had attacked the Pentagon. By 2nd period we knew it was true..and our teachers put us in one class room and we watched it on the news. I remember just sitting there in shock. I was so scared of what would happen next.

ETA: Again..sorry for anyone's losses.

 

[PrincessDijon]

I don''t remember what specific class I was in...I think it was English or history but it was the beginning of my senior year in high school. I just remember all of the classrooms having the TV''s on an moving class to class just being glued to the TV....

So sad...

 

[Ellen]

I didn''t feel like posting in here yesterday. My dad was dying at the time, needless to say, this was just icing on the cake. I was at home and my son came and told me, I thought he''d gotten the story wrong. That day, and the day after were the first days I did not go visit him in several months. It was really hard to put on a happy face.....

Something I never knew until this happened, was that the steel used to build the towers was purchased from my hometown steel mill.

 

[orbaya]

I was at home and when I woke up that morning I logged online. The headline about a plane crashing into the WTC caught my eye. I thought it was a terrible accident and figured that it would be on the news. It was then I realized it was BOTH towers and had turned on the TV just minutes after the second plane. I''ll never forget the first image that I saw...a view of the Statue of Liberty with the towers burning behind her. I was frozen in front of the TV and after I few minutes I woke up hubby and at that point reports were just coming in about the Pentagon. Neither of us had to work that day so we sat in front of the TV all day in total shock. We watched the towers fall, the sooty firefighters and police officers, people running for their lives, jumping out of the burning buildings, etc.

Here''s a story that took place on September 10th...my mother was leaving Friendly''s restaurant and two guys were coming in. One held the door open for her and she looked up to thank him and he just glared back at her. She said he gave her the creeps. When the news stations started showing pictures of the terrorists, my mother flipped out. The man that held the door for my mother? Mohammad Atta. We live near Portland where a few of them flew to Boston on the morning of 9/11. Friendly''s is right down the street from the hotel they were staying at. My mother reported her run-in with the terrorists and she was interviewed by the FBI, and she is still kind of freaked out about the experience. She says that Atta''s face is ingrained in her brain forever.

 

[Ellen]

Date: 9/12/2008 8:15:03 PM
Author: orbaya
I was at home and when I woke up that morning I logged online. The headline about a plane crashing into the WTC caught my eye. I thought it was a terrible accident and figured that it would be on the news. It was then I realized it was BOTH towers and had turned on the TV just minutes after the second plane. I''ll never forget the first image that I saw...a view of the Statue of Liberty with the towers burning behind her. I was frozen in front of the TV and after I few minutes I woke up hubby and at that point reports were just coming in about the Pentagon. Neither of us had to work that day so we sat in front of the TV all day in total shock. We watched the towers fall, the sooty firefighters and police officers, people running for their lives, jumping out of the burning buildings, etc.

Here''s a story that took place on September 10th...my mother was leaving Friendly''s restaurant and two guys were coming in. One held the door open for her and she looked up to thank him and he just glared back at her. She said he gave her the creeps. When the news stations started showing pictures of the terrorists, my mother flipped out. The man that held the door for my mother? Mohammad Atta. We live near Portland where a few of them flew to Boston on the morning of 9/11. Friendly''s is right down the street from the hotel they were staying at. My mother reported her run-in with the terrorists and she was interviewed by the FBI, and she is still kind of freaked out about the experience. She says that Atta''s face is ingrained in her brain forever.

Oh my God......I feel bad for her, I bet that would be hard to get rid of.

 

[luckystar112]

Date: 9/12/2008 8:15:03 PM
Author: orbaya
I was at home and when I woke up that morning I logged online. The headline about a plane crashing into the WTC caught my eye. I thought it was a terrible accident and figured that it would be on the news. It was then I realized it was BOTH towers and had turned on the TV just minutes after the second plane. I''ll never forget the first image that I saw...a view of the Statue of Liberty with the towers burning behind her. I was frozen in front of the TV and after I few minutes I woke up hubby and at that point reports were just coming in about the Pentagon. Neither of us had to work that day so we sat in front of the TV all day in total shock. We watched the towers fall, the sooty firefighters and police officers, people running for their lives, jumping out of the burning buildings, etc.

Here''s a story that took place on September 10th...my mother was leaving Friendly''s restaurant and two guys were coming in. One held the door open for her and she looked up to thank him and he just glared back at her. She said he gave her the creeps. When the news stations started showing pictures of the terrorists, my mother flipped out. The man that held the door for my mother? Mohammad Atta. We live near Portland where a few of them flew to Boston on the morning of 9/11. Friendly''s is right down the street from the hotel they were staying at. My mother reported her run-in with the terrorists and she was interviewed by the FBI, and she is still kind of freaked out about the experience. She says that Atta''s face is ingrained in her brain forever.

I know exactly what Friendly''s you''re talking about. And that is ONE scary story.
I fly in to Portland all the time, and since 9/11 I always get creeped out knowing that I am probably standing in the same spot the terrorists stood in. For those that don''t know it is a VERY tiny airport.

 

[orbaya]

Date: 9/12/2008 8:17:22 PM
Author: Ellen

Date: 9/12/2008 8:15:03 PM
Author: orbaya
I was at home and when I woke up that morning I logged online. The headline about a plane crashing into the WTC caught my eye. I thought it was a terrible accident and figured that it would be on the news. It was then I realized it was BOTH towers and had turned on the TV just minutes after the second plane. I''ll never forget the first image that I saw...a view of the Statue of Liberty with the towers burning behind her. I was frozen in front of the TV and after I few minutes I woke up hubby and at that point reports were just coming in about the Pentagon. Neither of us had to work that day so we sat in front of the TV all day in total shock. We watched the towers fall, the sooty firefighters and police officers, people running for their lives, jumping out of the burning buildings, etc.

Here''s a story that took place on September 10th...my mother was leaving Friendly''s restaurant and two guys were coming in. One held the door open for her and she looked up to thank him and he just glared back at her. She said he gave her the creeps. When the news stations started showing pictures of the terrorists, my mother flipped out. The man that held the door for my mother? Mohammad Atta. We live near Portland where a few of them flew to Boston on the morning of 9/11. Friendly''s is right down the street from the hotel they were staying at. My mother reported her run-in with the terrorists and she was interviewed by the FBI, and she is still kind of freaked out about the experience. She says that Atta''s face is ingrained in her brain forever.

Oh my God......I feel bad for her, I bet that would be hard to get rid of.

Yes, she still gets upset about it. I think she feels like she should have known or something. Of course she couldn''t have known though.

 

[orbaya]

Date: 9/12/2008 8:24:13 PM
Author: luckystar112

Date: 9/12/2008 8:15:03 PM
Author: orbaya
I was at home and when I woke up that morning I logged online. The headline about a plane crashing into the WTC caught my eye. I thought it was a terrible accident and figured that it would be on the news. It was then I realized it was BOTH towers and had turned on the TV just minutes after the second plane. I''ll never forget the first image that I saw...a view of the Statue of Liberty with the towers burning behind her. I was frozen in front of the TV and after I few minutes I woke up hubby and at that point reports were just coming in about the Pentagon. Neither of us had to work that day so we sat in front of the TV all day in total shock. We watched the towers fall, the sooty firefighters and police officers, people running for their lives, jumping out of the burning buildings, etc.

Here''s a story that took place on September 10th...my mother was leaving Friendly''s restaurant and two guys were coming in. One held the door open for her and she looked up to thank him and he just glared back at her. She said he gave her the creeps. When the news stations started showing pictures of the terrorists, my mother flipped out. The man that held the door for my mother? Mohammad Atta. We live near Portland where a few of them flew to Boston on the morning of 9/11. Friendly''s is right down the street from the hotel they were staying at. My mother reported her run-in with the terrorists and she was interviewed by the FBI, and she is still kind of freaked out about the experience. She says that Atta''s face is ingrained in her brain forever.

I know exactly what Friendly''s you''re talking about. And that is ONE scary story.
I fly in to Portland all the time, and since 9/11 I always get creeped out knowing that I am probably standing in the same spot the terrorists stood in. For those that don''t know it is a VERY tiny airport.

I''ve had the same thoughts while in that airport. I eat at that Friendly''s occassionally and I always wonder where they sat. It freaks me out that I could be eating my lunch at the same table that the terrorists sat at and had one of their last meals, knowing what they were about to do.

My jumping smileys in my sig aren''t really appropriate for this thread...

 

[Diva0413]

I like most was at home that day. I was sleeping when my telephone rang with my mother on the other end. She was frantic, but very happy to hear my voice... I had overslept for an 9:30AM interview on the 41st floor in the first tower. I don''t talk about it much, but it feels very awkward. I''m very happy to have my life, but I always wonder, what if?

 

[corgan]

I was in my lecture hall in college and our teacher had the weirdest personality and casually came in and told over 200 students that "I just wanted to let you all know that the World Trade Centre was bombed" At the time they still didn''t know that it was a plane that had hit but the way she said it was something that sounded way over the top. Her way with words it sounded like it was a joke and everyone kept asking if she was serious. She said she was but it never sounded legit. So a few people from class went to the cafeteria where the T.Vs were and reported back to class to see if she was actually telling us the truth.

Obviously she was so a whole bunch of us left and went and watched the T.V. Hundreds of us were glued to the TV and some of the facts started to come out that it was a plane and it looked like terrorists and then we saw the second plane.

I was in Toronto for school but lived an hour away by train and they ended up closing pretty much the City. Our classes were cancelled and the school was closed. They stopped running transit and closed the train system fearing that we might be hit next or something. I was so worried I wouldn''t make it out of the city, I had never seen anything like it, the city was so quiet there was no one on the road. Everything was closing. The train station was packed when I got there and I was lucky enough to get a train out. School was closed for a few days and I watched in horror at home on the TV all that had happened.

That day still haunts me and I was lucky enough to not be any where near NYC so I feel so much for the people that lived it and suffered through that horrible day and I still think of it.

 

[Ellen]

Date: 9/13/2008 7:39:41 PM
Author: Diva0413
I like most was at home that day. I was sleeping when my telephone rang with my mother on the other end. She was frantic, but very happy to hear my voice... I had overslept for an 9:30AM interview on the 41st floor in the first tower. I don''t talk about it much, but it feels very awkward. I''m very happy to have my life, but I always wonder, what if?

Wow. It obviously wasn''t your time. I''m glad you overslept.