Just putting this there to help us all remember 20 years ago…the personal side of memories of 9/11.
My biggest memory, was coming to the realization that we were under attack…the moment the second plane hit…and that it wasn’t from a common enemy. It was terrorism.
I remember the realization. That for the first time in my life only birds inhabited the beautiful blue skies.
I remember getting home from work and throwing up.
I remember my son who was 6 being afraid to go to school what if a plane crashed onto his school?
I remember opening his curtains and telling him see that. The sun rose. We are still here, and we will be ok.
I remember my daughter 3 being blissfully oblivious to it all.
And I remember being thankful for the Disney Channel to allow us some levity and fun family time. It brought us very close as a family.
It was just before 9 pm local time when I happened to switch channels to a channel that was showing what was happening. Many hours later it was very difficult to sleep. At work the following day, there was a feeling of incomprehension and numbness. Ten Aussies were amongst those who lost their lives.
There was added context from an Aussie perspective given that the Australian PM was in New York on that day and it was only a matter of days after Lleyton Hewitt had won the men’s US Open singles.
I was at work when it happened and I just remember almost everyone in the break room watching the towers burn on the TV until eventually they both collapsed. I remember wanting to go back into the military and go fight.
I was in the regional airport waiting for a flight to Atlanta to attend some training.
It is permeantly burned into my memory watching the second plan fly into the twin towers that morning on the TV in the airport bar where a bunch of people gathered to see the news about the first plan.
I woke up to the news. Channel was MTV when I fell asleep, but everything was CNN at that point. Thought I was watching a tacky show at first until the second plane hit. Donated blood the next day along with everyone else.
On one of the channels, the camera was pointed right at the corner of the gash in the first tower to fall. I watched the steel beam buckle, followed by the collapse. I’ve never been able to find that video again since my days in the AaW subforum.
I’m still working nights. Was working it then, too.
All I really remember is retrieving 5 voice mails when not even expecting one. It was my then federal employee mom calling about being sent home & the attacks.
After the chaotic events of that day, the following day I went to work & an ambulance was outside. Turns out an employee who fell did so because of loss of balance from muscular dystrophy, and he returned using a scooter.
He’s since passed. Rest In Peace, Michael, and thank you for your service.
Between those events and an accidental needle stick, that was the only year I wore a Halloween costume to lighten the mood. Other than that I don’t recall a whole lot from that time period.
This concert even 20 years later is one of the few positives of that year, and it’s still uplifting:
I went to work in Morristown, New Jersey for the big company.
I walked to work every day from the train station (mile and a half) It was a beautiful day.
I worked for the controller of the company and stuck my head in office and wished him good morning.
Then settled in for a days administrative duties. We had CNN on, first plane hit and somebody came into my cubicle and said a plane hit the WTC. Oh ■■■■■ Then the second one hit. Another oh ■■■■ Moment. We had a very short meeting in which we were told to go home. I went out and the sun was still shining brightly but suddenly the beauty that had been the morning turned black. Made my way back to the train station. Trains not running. Had to take a bus back to Dover. Missed the next three weeks of work. Just a terrible funk was over me. Lost weight. No appetite. Nothing seemed alright.
Even things that I enjoy doing sucked. Eventually things got better, it took a while however.
I started a thread like this years ago, and I wanted to thank the OP for doing it this year.
Short version, we were sound asleep with a newborn (rare right?), my sister called and we were like,“why is someone calling so early? Hello!! Baby here!!!”
It didn’t take long to realize that the world was completely changed after we saw the 2nd plane hit.
In short, while the horrors of that day will remain burned into our memories forever, it is helpful and therapeutic to hear the stories and experiences of others who were feeling the same shock and helplessness.
I was starting a new elementary teaching job in a suburb of NYC. We were already at work when the planes hit the towers, and I remember how hard it was to get info- no smart phones back then, and even our desktop computers didn’t have much up to date info. Every now and then, a coworker would sneak in with some news- the other tower fell, another plane crashed. We couldn’t turn on TV because our focus was on remaining calm and not letting on to the kids what was happening. We knew some had parents who worked at the WTC. One of those parents died.
I was 4 years old. I remember coming into the living room, and thinking what they were seeing on the news was a movie. My dad picked me up, put me on his lap, and told me everything that had happened. Mind you, I hadn’t seen the first plane hit, but I just entered the room when the second plane hit. I didn’t know what the white buildings were that they hit. I didn’t see them collapse. What tipped me off to reality, were my dad’s and nanny’s expressions.
This wasn’t some action or horror movie. This was real life. People do these horrible kinds of things in real life, and I think that’s the thing that hit me the longest. People really do want to hurt and kill others.
I was in a back office working when someone came in and said a plane had hit the world trade center. I thought…what…you’re that bad of a pilot? A few minutes later, they came back in and said the other tower had been hit…and then it hit me hard…terrorism.
