Remembering 9/11 - Where were you?

This was a very hot topic on the Men's Forum today. I thought it would be good here too. I remember it like it was yesterday. I grew up in Queens, about 15 miles from lower Manhattan. I could always remember seeing the towers in the distance at night when if I was at the top of the hill on my street.  On Sunday the 9th, my grandmother passed away. On Monday night, the 10th I flew in and I remember being dissapointed that I couldn't see the skyline because of very heavy rain that was falling.  The next morning I woke up at my Uncle's House in Rockland County just north of the city. It remember mentioning to everybody how beutiful a morning it was. I had just come from Phoenix where it was over 100 degrees everyday for the prior three months. It was crystal clear and in the 70's a real chamber of commerce day.  At 8:00 AM or so the funeral service began. I had written a great eulogy about my only grandmother and I fell apart while delivering it. About that time, the first plane hit. By the time the service at the funeral parlor was over, word had broken on the radio. The first indication that something was wrong was when the funeral director asked the immediate family to come and talk to them outside. We thought it was to receive directions on how the procession would start. Instead we were told there would be no procession. We were told that a plane had hit one of the Twin Towers and that the city was on lockdown, whi*****luded all of the bridges. We needed to cross the Tappanzee and Throg's Neck to get to the cemetery, so burying her was out of the question.  We were devestated to think that her body would have to wait there in limbo. Oh yeah, and my grandmother was Jewish, and it is Jewish law that a body be buried within a certain number of hours of their death, so that was troubling too. Soon though, those troubles seemed trivial compared to what we were hearing on the radio. My mother lost it. I remember her screaming "I can't lose another one of my baby's" because she was certain this was going to lead to a war and the eventual draft of me or my brother after she had already lost our sister to cancer in 1989.  We soon went back to my uncle's house where everybody regrouped and stared in awe as we watched the coverage for endless hours on CNN. I think I finally went to bed around 7:00 AM the next morning. That day, Wednesday, I was on the phone with American Airlines trying to find out how they could get me back to Phoenix. They didn't know how long the planes would stay grounded so they didn't really have any answers other then to tell me that I had to leave from JFK, which I wasn't comfortable with. I wanted to drive down to Raleigh with my cousin and wait there where at least the terrorists wouldn't blend in on a departing flight. I finally convinced them to accomodate me and the next morning I was off to Raleigh - before my grandmother could finally be laid to rest the next day.  Raleigh was beutiful, that trip was what led me to move there. So in a roundabout kind of way if 9/11 never happened, I never would have moved to Raleigh, I never would have went to Duke for WLS, and perhaps would not have lived as long! How's that for trying to turn lemons into lemonade!  On Friday, they opened the skies again and I  finally got on a near empty plane in Raleigh, It was me and a preist in full garb in the fron row, I sat on the aisle with my leg out - nobody was getting to the ****pit without getting through me first! I arrived home safe and the rest is history. God bless the memory of those that were lost but never forgotten.

Wow, Michael What a memory. I was in high school at the time, but for some reason we had that day off. I remember I was sleeping in and my mom called me. She wanted to make sure I was okay. I didnt even know what was going on, and she just kept sayin that we were being attacked,a nd we were going to war. After that I was just glued to the television. I remeber at work that night my boss turned the television on and everyone stood around watching it. It always reminds me of people telling stories of the day JFK died. About how pwople stood  around tvs in departments stores, and took comfort from  people who were complete strangers. Thata how I felt that day, like none of us were strangers anymore. We were all in this together.

I was in 10th grade.  I never like to talk about that day because i feel bad.  I associate it with what happened to me that day versus what happened to the thousands of people.  Anyway,  I was wearing my "Make Love Not War" shirt that day and as it happened I was at my friends house.  I was so upset and wanted to change my shirt.  Anyway we went to school and the school brought out all the big screens and we pretty much watch TV all day.  After School me and 5 of my friends decided to go play b-ball.  We stopped by my house and my step dad was home.  I ran in and grabbed my bag and he told me I wasnt going out.  I snottily said WHY, and he got really upset and grabbed my back pack and threw me to the ground.  I started Screaming as loud as I could so my friends would come in.  I knew what he was going to do.  They must not have heard me at first because he was able to hit me enough to make my mouth and nose bleed.  I continued to scream and my BFF shaun ran in and grabbed me and threw me into the car. I remember crying and bleeding all over the back seat of the car.  My friends told me I had to do something about it and took me to the police station.  If any of you have had this happen, you know how much I  did not want to go to the police. My friends basically dropped me off at the station.  When I explained what happened they said."WE DONT HAVE TIME FOR THIS. THIS IS A DAY OF MOURNING AND YOU ARE HERE LYING@."  I was devastaded.  they put me in the holding cell for 3 hours.  My mom finally came and got me, and I left that night and moved in with someone else. Sorry.  It kinda feels better to get this out but it was a terrible day all around

I was sitting in my apartment living room watching tv in the morning before work for the first time in my life. I normally wake up a half hour before I have to leave.. just enough time to S/S/S. well maybe not shave lol I sat down and watched tv.. I saw the second tower get hit live. I am somewhat ashamed to say.. when all these people were having the worst day of their life, I was worried that my first date with this awesome guy was not going to happen on Thursday.  (The awesome guy is now my husband.) I called my father and asked him if I should go to work.  At this point, we had a hijacked plane flying around Cleveland (where I live) and I work downtown.. I didnt know if I should go down there. They were evacuating our "taller" buildings.. I didnt work in one of them.. but I didnt want to get stuck in all the chaos either. So I was selfish, but I went to work and started calling my sales reps that work in NYC.  I located 1 out of 3.  One of my reps was supposed to be in the towers that day.  Turns out he was running late and hadn't left home yet. Great Topic Amanda

I was student teaching Kindergarden in Buffalo, NY.....As we were walking in the hall a teacher stopped to tell us a plane hit one of the towers....we thought it was an accident....it wasn't until lunch when we realized it was more serious.....watching cnn and seeing people jumping out of the building is something I'll never forget.....nor was the ride home that day.....It was bumper to bumper traffic...I remember calling my mom and my boyfriend crying because everyone was in sheer panic....parents racing to pick up there kids from school....stunned faces in the cars beside me....my grandmother was staying with us recovering from a triple bypass and I remember her saying she hasn't seen anything like this since pearl harbor.......I remember thinking oh my god...this woman survived Pearl Harbor and has to witness this AGAIN!.....Definately one of those times in your life that you will never ever forget.

I was in Mr. White's 10th grade US History class (how is that for ironic).  He is one of the most reserved and composed people I have ever met - always calm, soft/firmly spoken and dignified.  He let us watch the TV until a crazy, mountain man teacher from next door came over and started throwing a fit about  "f-ing towel heads".  Then he turned it off and asked those of us that prayed, to pray - and we did. After that we watched the news in almost every class.  It was unreal.  Just the April before my vocal jazz group had visited NYC to sing at Carnegie Hall and we had watched the skyline from a cruise around the bay.  It didn't seem like those big buildings could just be gone.  It became real when I got to visit ground zero in the spring of 2003 and see the huge gap myself.  

Probably workin.

I was living in Hawaii at the time, and sleeping. it was 5:00am there. My sister(Active military) came running up stairs and banged on my door till i got up out of bed, and told me to sit down and watch. The previous year with my sister as well while she was stationed in Maryland, we got to visit NY, which was my dream. It still trips me out.  Then again I guess it will always, seeing I have numerous of family members in the military.