9/11 Remembrance (Read 117 times)

[Kpatch]

Let us never forget.

Where were you when the towers fell?

[ana24]

September 11, 2001 will be a day we will always remember where we were, what we were doing and how we felt. I received a phone call that morning from my sister in-law Julie, that is how I learned about it. I was hit with so many emotions all at once. I turned on the news in my bedroom because I didn't want my young children to see it. All I could do was pray and fight back the sobs so as not to frighten my kids who were home eating breakfast and getting ready for school.

After the Pentagon was hit, I spent an hour calling family members near and far to see how they were doing, to give comfort and to tell them, I loved them.

Then I went online to a community chatroom where I was an online counselor (with my friends, Ann and Donna) where people from all over the world visited. Donna was the Manager of our department and I, as her Assistant Manager, organized our other counselors online to help be there for the kids and people who needed someone to speak with. Many young people were shaken. We said prayers with kids who wanted to pray and or just needed or wanted someone to talk too.

There were many young and old from other countries that sent their heartfelt condolences posting on our discussion boards. It was a beautiful thing to witness.

My husband came home early from work, and we spoke to our children about what had happened, helped them not be afraid and just spent time together giving extra hugs and kisses.

[mae00]

It's so hard to believe that its been 23 years ago. The emotions and actions after learning of the attack still feel like yesterday.

I was working at a donut shop before heading to college for the day when the first attack happened. Things slowed way down, we turned on the radio (no TV there) and listened to the coverage there. By the time I left for the day, the other tower and the pentagon had been hit with reports of an additional flight being hijacked. It wasn't until I got to my first class of the afternoon and we were all discussing and trying to get all the info we could that I learned the one plane crashed in an open field. Nothing was done in class that day. I went home, curled up on the couch watching the news and crying all night. Feeling all of the emotions at one time was so overwhelming.

Both my boys never really quite understood why that day affects me like it still does when I had no direct link to it. I tried to explain the uncertainty of it all to them but they never FULLY got it. Then when my oldest and I went to Europe in 2019 on a band trip, we got the opportunity to go see a live Broadway style performance. The one we originally chose ended up closing before our trip so we had to pick another one. Jake chose "Come From Away". I was hoping for Phantom of the Opera but .....he won. We were told that this performance was the story of 9/11 told from the viewpoint of the people in Newfoundland and that we were lucky because we were going to get to see it performed by the original cast. I'll be honest, lucky is not how I felt about it. I was not excited about re-living those moments and emotions at all. 5 adults took about 20-30 teenagers to see this. There was no hiding any emotion from all of the adults. Before we got halfway through the production, we (the adults) were all crying and the kids thought we had lost our minds. By the end of it tho, they got it. they understood and some were even crying right along with us. There were sooooo many questions asked about the events of that day on our walk back to the hotel and my son was like "Now I get it mom." While I may have been apprehensive about going, now I'm glad we went. It became one of our favorite shows and we've tried to find it on DVD with those cast members. We tell everyone that if they get the opportunity to see it...go. It's emotional but it is soo worth it to see how a small country stepped up, took in, and helped 3X their population during a time of unknown.

[ProudTVJunkie]

I managed the local animal shelter and was driving to a TV studio (just outside of NYC) to do a spot about adoptions. I was listening to the WPLJ morning show, and they were saying what a perfect autumn day it was. Then they announced a plane hit the first tower. Everyone just thought somebody had a heart attack while flying their private plane, and hit the tower because what else would have happened? The attitude was, "Who the hell could have done something so stupid?"

The second plane hit just as I arrived at the television studio, and it was immediate chaos. They showed both towers burning on every screen. They realized it was actually an airliner and not a small aircraft. There was disbelief and panic. I was told to leave the studio as every spot was now canceled.

I was headed back to work and tried to call my then-boyfriend, now husband. We lived together, and his work started later in the day, so he should have been home, but he wasn't picking up. I was worried, so I headed home. Just as I pulled into the driveway, the plane hit the Pentagon. On the radio, they announced that we were under attack! I ran inside to find Todd had been in the shower. He didn't have the TV on so he had no idea what was happening. I turned on the TV, and we sat there in disbelief, eventually watching both towers fall.

Living so close to NYC, we'd both been in those towers several times throughout our lives. It was surreal. It still is.