14 years later...

[pinkcat]

A thread for remembrance of 9/11. I can't believe it's been 14 years already... Where were you when you heard the news? What do you remember about that day and who you were with?

[mrsjene]

I was in my dorm room. I used to turn on the news in the morning before getting ready for class. The first plane had hit and I honestly didn't think much of it until I got to class and everyone was freaking out.

Then I started freaking out because I knew my mom was supposed to be flying to California that morning for work. I couldn't get in touch with her and I couldn't get in with my dad because the cell towers were going nuts.

Eventually, she called my dorm to tell me she was okay. She did actually have a ticket for one of those flights, but her company ended up asking her to take a flight to California the day before. So moral of the story, she was okay but had to take a bus from California to New England because there was no air travel for days. She lost a few colleagues though.

[goldenlove3]

It was my senior year of high school and I was in Jewelry class. The art teacher from next door ran in and told us that a plane just hit the towers. We all gathered around a TV to watch. I remember not realizing how big this really was. My mom ended up calling the school and getting me and my sister out for the rest of the day. We are middle eastern so she was worried that someone would mess with us. I thought she was overreacting. I ended up missing my first Government test that day too. It's crazy how vivid that day is.

[pinkcat]

I was in 9th grade English class, and we were watching the news. We saw the 2nd plane hit and I remember how shaken my teacher was- this made me really realize how serious it was.

I also remember being so frustrated with some of our classmates- one went as far to say "I don't get why they are making us watch this all day, I have better things to do." We all let her know how wrong she was for saying that, but it still makes me angry when I think of it today.

[thechickencoop]

mrsjene that must have been terrifying. I'm so glad your mom was ok.

[wannabmama]

mrsjene those stories of people who just missed being on one of the flights are so haunting. I'm glad your mom was safe and send up a prayer for those who lost their lives that day.
I lived in CA at the time and was just waking up when a friend called because she knew my parents lived in DC and traveled a lot and the first plane had hit. I turned on the tv at the moment the second plane hit. It was a chaotic day trying to find my parents and see where they were (I rarely know their travel schedule) and my mom worked across the street from the Pentagon. I walked across Sam Francisco to get to my office so I could get better internet and phone connections and finally found everyone was ok. I walked home through the city again and it was SO deserted and eerie. My roommate and I watched the news together, barely spoke, she was from the DC area and at that moment we felt so very far away.
I always think how my first thought seeing the first plane had nothing to do with terrorism, it didn't even cross my mind. Naive back then.

[camster2584]

I was in my senior year of high school in history class, transitioning to religion class (catholic high) when we were told about the planes hitting. My aunt and cousin both worked in the city and I was terrified that something happened to them. I couldn't get a hold of my mom to find out because of cell service being down. Thankfully, both were ok, my cousin was on the bus into the holland tunnel and he saw the first or second plane (can't remember which) fly into the tower. The bus driver turned around and home they went. I'll always remember this day. So sad

[pinkcat]

mrsjene, your story gave me goosebumps. I'm glad your mom was safe.

Everyone's stories are so interesting- it is amazing how much we all remember from that day. starbuck27, I definitely think you're right about our generation losing our innocence that day.

[Deleted]

**********Warning, Is that a given for this topic? ...
I was like so many other's going about my typical morning and caught a glimpse of the news before driving my two oldest boys to preschool.  Sadly I did view the second plane. My day and thoughts crashed and all my memories are a sad blur, I drove to preschool but they were closed.  It seems like everyone was just in a cloud and didn't know what to do.  The lack of information was frustrating and scary. 
My family, I like to say got a shot of God love that day, just as a reminder that even through the worst of tragedies life continues and there is always hope that the next moment/day will be better. My cousin delivered her 3rd child that day.
I also have had two horrible other personal/family experiences on anniversary's of the 11th, on September 11 2007 my (step)father passed away, and the following year on the 11th we found out some devastating news about physical violence to a child in the family.
9/11 is a very difficult day for our country and unfortunately like many others for family tragedies as well.

edit to add 

[hydrangea1019]

I was in 11th grade and as I walked into my English class people were gathered around the TV. I walked over, watched for a bit, then asked "what movie is this". My friend turned around a just said "this isn't a movie..."

At the time my uncle worked in the Pentagon. He was late for work that day.

My friend's aunt worked in one of the towers. She was a mess and her family couldn't get a hold of her. They finally were able to make contact and found out she was ok.

The remainder of the day was very odd. The entire school's power went out and they couldn't get it back on. Of course being dramatic high schoolers we thought it was related. They almost released us early (even had school buses show up before lunch) but it got fixed soon after lunch.

WOW!! mrsjene. I can't even imagine how your mom felt that day knowing her ticket was for one of those planes. So glad she's ok!
starbuck27 I absolutely agree that our generation lost its innocence that day.

[titania]

mrsjene I just teared up at your story. I'm so glad your mom was safe.

I was a senior in high school in DC. I was changing classes from pre-calculus to English and it was chaos in the hallways. We were all shuffled to the gym and held there for a little while, but most of us had no idea what was going on. Our headmaster made the announcement of what happened and everyone was in shock. We all thought it was an accident of some sort. We were eventually allowed to go back to class where we watched all of the coverage on TV and cried. When I went to history class our teacher wanted to "maintain normalcy" so he made us take our test planned that day. He ended up throwing those grades out cause in the middle of it an admin staff ran in an announced to one of our classmates her dad was ok - they finally made contact with him at the pentagon. She started sobbing and then we all did. She had been so stoic- we had no idea her dad was there. School was dismissed early and it took hours for me to get home cause the traffic in the city was at a standstill. I listened to news coverage the whole way home and remember feeling that life was forever changed.

[juliayadda]

I was in my hometown on the West Coast. My mom walked in my room at 6:00 am and told me to turn on the TV.

The first thing I saw was the live footage as the second plane hit. This image haunted me for years. Still does I guess.

I went to university for my 8:30 class and it was all we talked about.

[jwinct]

(The responses, so far, are making me feel really old.)

I was 25 years old and I worked in the marketing department at a large insurance company in Hartford. I had a radio in my cubicle and was listening to the local morning show hosted by Dee Snider. I was only half listening and I thought they were making a joke about a plane, but it struck me as odd, so I turned the radio up a little and focused my attention on it and then realized what was actually going on. People around me started talking about it and then the second plane hit and we were all so stunned and emotional. We all rushed downstairs to the common area where they had TVs on. There like a hundred employees crowded into that room and it was so eerie and surreal and emotional. (I reached out to my boyfriend, who was also at work, and it was like he didn't even give a sh*t what had just happened to our country and it was then that I knew I had to break up with him.) I started to become afraid that they were targeting financial buildings and Hartford is supposedly (or used to be?) the insurance capitol of the world, so I was really glad when the company announced that all non-essential employees could leave if they chose to. I was still living with my parents, so I drove home and it was the weirdest, most indescribable feeling as I drove home. It was unusually quiet. We live not far from the airport, so I kept looking into the sky and was unnerved when I saw a military helicopter fly overhead as I drove up my street.

My parents were both home and had the news on. I wished my mom a somber happy birthday. I cried a lot that day, and for days after that. You couldn't turn the TV on without seeing footage. It was so horrible, but I felt like I had to watch it.

It's a day that will be fresh in my mind forever.

[Ray]

I was in 7th grade. I remember the teachers talking about it but didn't think much of it. Like starbuck27 my history teacher was the one who was like "this is what's going to happen now". I got home and watched the coverage on the TV with my parents. Being Canadian and quite young it didn't have as scary an impact on me that day. My parents worked at a nuclear facility and so security got a lot tighter but I couldn't really grasp how large it was.

5 years later I met DH. He had signed up for the military 5 months before 911. It was the war afterwards that was hard for me once I started seeing him. Flags at half mast would terrify me until I could get to the news and find out why/who it was down for. One day he told me they had had a pizza party but now I wouldn't hear from him for a few weeks. I knew he would be getting into something bad if they had given them a "last meal" kinda thing.

Looking back I have a lot of anger about that day now. So many lives lost that day, so many lives from so many countries lost fighting a war that never would have had to be fought in the first place if this hadn't have happened.

It's a slow healing process for everyone involved no matter what way I think. I'm glad our countries are starting to move forward.

[penguin129]

Reading these stories is making me tear up.

I was in 11th grade on my way to my world cultures class. When I got into the classroom the teacher had written on the board "truths" and "rumors" or something like that and had everything about the planes crashing on the board. He was changing it as we got more information. I remember kids calling theirs parents to make sure they and relatives were ok.

[graysweater]

I was a Sophomore in HS. I had been outside at band practice for the beginning of everything. When we came inside for 2nd period it was chaos in the building. I walked into my chemistry class and they had the news on. The news stayed on all day long. It was terrifying. Then there were rumors that the nuclear plant in our town was next. My mom and several of my friends parents work our there. We couldn't make contact with our parents all day. When I finally got home around 4 pm. My mom was already home and was off work for a good week while the plant was closed.

I will never forget that day. As some previous posters have said that was the day everything changed. I think that is the day that America lost its greatness. I don't know, this day is always so hard for me. And as I get older I really start to understand the impact that day had on our lives.

[PepperPottsJ]

jwinct I was 24, if it helps...

I worked directly across the river - and recall ever single detail of that day. We were evacuated due to concerns on major financial centers being hit and I recall the horror of not knowing where my dad was (we all went back and forth via WTC multiple times a day and he was helping people off of the ferries as the only way out of lower Manhattan). I'll never forget watching the second plane hit and hearing and seeing those towers collapse.

I cried this morning walking past the family checkin, and words will never express my gratitude for the men and women who put their grief aside today to keep us safe.

I am blessed to not lose anyone close to me, and too many was supposed to be there but.... My heart goes out to everyone remotely affected by the absolutely senseless tragedy.

[pinkcat]

PepperPottsJ, I can't imagine- that had to be terrifying. Hugs.

[Deleted]

Sept 11, 2015 9:03:08 GMT -5 PepperPottsJ said:

jwinct I was 24, if it helps...

I worked directly across the river - and recall ever single detail of that day. We were evacuated due to concerns on major financial centers being hit and I recall the horror of not knowing where my dad was (we all went back and forth via WTC multiple times a day and he was helping people off of the ferries as the only way out of lower Manhattan). I'll never forget watching the second plane hit and hearing and seeing those towers collapse.

I cried this morning walking past the family checkin, and words will never express my gratitude for the men and women who put their grief aside today to keep us safe.

I am blessed to not lose anyone close to me, and too many was supposed to be there but.... My heart goes out to everyone remotely affected by the absolutely senseless tragedy.

Not being able to reach you or dad or anyone to just check -in was the scariest part of the entire day for me.

I was away at school in Pennsylvania. My second week of classes. I remember walking out of my Calculus class and seeing people on campus really upset, but not knowing why. When I walked into my dorm room, my roommate told me that my dad had just called and said everyone was ok. Neither of us knew what he meant so we turned on the news.

I tried calling my dad and sister back after I saw that the second plane had hit, just to make sure you were all still ok . The phone lines were so jammed I couldn't even call my grandparents to make sure they knew my dad had called me.

I had several friends and acquaintances lose loved ones that day. I am forever grateful that my family was safe.

[ohinvrtedworld]

I was in 6th grade and was down in the dumps in my little 12 year old world because 1. I was home sick from school, and 2... it's my birthday.

I was moping around the house and playing with my lava lamp that I got as a gift when my mom called from work and admonished me not to turn on the TV. I probably wasn't going to anyway, but of course, curiosity had me and I flipped it right on. I couldn't process what was going on. It just did not register that this was a big deal. I thought it was an accident.

I've wished ever since not to have this day as a birthday because it's so hard to celebrate something in the face of such tragedy. (I'm sure Pearl Harbor babies can relate also.) It's just a part of life, and as an adult I know now that I want to dedicate at least some quiet time to reflect and pray for those whose families were torn apart by hate.

Story Corps has some GREAT animated narratives from people that I highly recommend watching today.

[TheEleventhHour]

It is so hard to believe it was 14 years ago. It sometimes feels like it was yesterday. The imagery of that day will certainly stay with me for my lifetime.

I was in first period study hall in 10th grade. I went to a really small school (400 kids K-12) and my friends and I noticed our headmaster and other teachers pacing around the office. Little did we know they were spreading the news to teachers and working on telling the school. We finally asked them what wrong because it just seemed so odd to us and they told us before they had made the announcement. We ran to the library to watch the news. So many of my friends had parents who worked between Boston and NYC so it was particularly scary helping some close friends get in touch with family. Luckily none of my friends or peers lost any family. My mom had been on campus at a PTA meeting and she came to talk to me because my aunt was supposed to be on one of the planes. The hour it took to track her down was awful but she luckily did not take that flight because my cousin was sick.

My aunt (by marriage) lost her brother in the Pentagon. He was only 44 and it was his last day of work before retiring from the Navy. It was so heartbreaking. Her family started a memorial scholarship and we run a 5k in his honor every year.

[emilie]

I was living and working in downtown Manhattan then and was at the WTC subway station when the second plane hit on 9/11. I was not hurt and I feel very lucky. I saw a lot of awful stuff that day that will never not be seared into my memory.

When I get back to NYC and go to the memorial these days, I don't think about that day specifically, but more the days and weeks and months after. Having to show your pay stub to get past certain areas downtown. People buying food and coffees for the disaster recovery workers. New Yorkers actually being super nice to each other but no one actually really smiling. The lines and lines around the blocks of people giving blood. The air smelling like chalk and fire until Thanksgiving. So much debris. When I see what downtown looks like now it all seems like a bad dream.

I remember I wrote out some big thing on TD last year about what my day was like but I am just not feeling like reliving that this year. So instead, I'll post my favorite 9/11-related news video from this year: NYC just had a 16th birthday party for the last known living search-and-rescue dog from Ground Zero, and the video is freaking adorable:

www.today.com/pets/last-known-surviving-9-11-search-dog-ground-zero-enjoys-t43176

My heart goes out to those of you who have tough memories associated with 9/11 - I hear you.

[shemarie82]

I as a freshman in college. It was very unlike me for an early morning class to be sitting in the grass studying, but people kept walking by and saying that class had been canceled. I assumed that it was a joke because the college is known for never canceling. Once I realized that there was something going on, I walked through the student activity center and it felt like everyone on the campus was there watching the coverage. I left campus to check in with my family, and stopped to see B at work. She works in a restaurant setting, so they had no idea what was actually happening.

I went to her house, and watched and cried and watched some more for hours and hours. I remember that I just could not get enough information, I needed to understand what happened and why.

I do not personally know anyone that lost their life, but I still struggle all of the years later to move past it on this day. For several years after, I would make sure that I was at home, rewatching. I never want anyone that lost someone to believe for a second that it is just the past. It changed me and the nation. For me, I don't think it will ever be just a day.

ETA: We had our wedding reception in the building where the Student Activity Center is, and on several occasions on the day, took a moment to remember that day and the lives lost.

[mrss44]

I was in 6th grade in Social Studies class when my teacher stopped the class and turned on the television.

I will never forget that day.

[piccyami]

I was in 9th grade biology when the first plane hit. I remember my teacher telling us that it must be a hoax and there was nothing to worry about. (He never turned the TV on to watch anything.) After we changed classes, my geometry class watched all the footage. None of us really understood what was going on or why anyone would want to do something like that. Sometime toward the end of class, the decision was made by the school to turn the TVs off and try to make it through the day. For a couple of days, the district cancelled all extracurricular activities due to safety concerns. Once they understood the situation better, they re-instated extracurriculars and most groups scheduled extra voluntary practices to keep us busy. I remember one practice soon after where a few of us were on the field and a plane flew low overhead. We were all terrified, partially because planes never flew over the school, and partially because of how low it was.

[jubilantsquirrel]

I was in 9th grade. Being on the West Coast I was still sleeping when the first plane hit, my mom came into my room told me to wake up and turned on my TV. She told me a plane crashed into the WTC in NYC. I remember being confused and wondering what could cause a plane to crash into a building like that. Then the second plane hit and it became apparent that the first plane wasn't an accident.

I remember going to school that day and the teachers telling us they were told not to talk to the students about what was happening. There were a few rogue teachers who ignored that and still turned on the news and/or explained to us what had happened and what it meant for our country.

I can't imagine what it was like being near the attack or what it felt like not being able to get a hold of loved ones to make sure that they were ok. I also cannot fathom what it feels like to have lost someone to this terrorist attack or to have lost someone in the ensuing war. My 14 year old heart shattered that day for all the lives lost and for the lives to be lost in the following years.

[Deleted]

One additional anecdotal story, my ex-boyfriend's father worked in the North Tower, but on that day he missed his bus for the first time in over 15 years. If he had been on his regular bus he would have been in the elevator on the way to his desk when the plane hit.

He was always amazed that missing the bus probably saved his life.

[ghostmonkey]

I was walking to my accounting class when it happened. Toward the end of class there was a lot of noise from the back of the room and people leaving, but I figured they were just being obnoxious. I walked to my second class and plopped down in the back and was half assed listening to the professor and another student talking. Then he asked the class if we wanted to stay or go watch the news at the Union. A girl behind me asked what they had been talking about and what was going on. I replied "They were saying something about a plane hitting the World Trade Center and one of the towers collapsed." She looked at me like I had 3 heads. "Yeah I must have heard something wrong."

Nope.

I got to the Union about 30 seconds before the second tower collapsed.

My next class the instructor tried to go forward with things, but it failed miserably. That evening I had a psychology class. He didn't even try to teach, instead he had us talk about what happened, and of course at that point everything was just rumors on who was behind it. He drew out a complicated diagram explaining who and why. And he was correct.

[mcktymck]

I was in 7th grade. I'll never forget my mom coming in to wake me up for school, and saying something happened in NY. We all went downstairs and watched as the second plane hit. I was so confused, why would someone do this to us? How? We went to school and the teachers were all very somber and quiet, it was such a sad day. We watched the news coverage most of the day until my favorite teacher decided we had had enough, and turned the TV off.

A couple years ago (while still living in CT), my mom came to visit and we took her to the 9/11 memorial in NYC. It was incredible and heartbreaking, in the middle of the hustle and bustle of downtown NY, the memorial was silent. Everyone just walked around touching the fountains, reading the names of all the people lost, and reflecting.

[Deleted]

emilie, thank you for posting that!