I remember what I was doing 7 years ago today...

[NMbirds]

I was in Boston trying to fly home to NM and I think two of the planes had left Boston and on my way to the airport, the first one hit the WTC and all airports were shut down, for several days. I ended up driving a rental car 2400 miles for 2 days, sad and heart-broken miles they were, and when I got home the whole nation was in mourning.
As tragic as it was, there have been more lives sacrificed in Iraq over the past four years than were extinguished on 9/11 and the cost besides young lives and wrecked families is in the billions of dollars that could have been used for something far more productive. I support the troops and want them home ASAP, out of harms way. Oh, I forgot, "mission accomplished."
When will we ever learn that wars are harmful to children and other living things and since WWII, which I witnessed as a child and had relatives serving then and in Korea and in Viet Nam and in Iraq and Afghanistan, (and Kosovo, Panama and elsewhere) it doesn't seem we're capable of finding other ways to negotiate our differences. I still think we should grow up and evolve as human beings or maybe go back and just gather 'round the fire and tell stories and whoever tells the best story wins.
We need to defend ourselves, our children and our country and the cost is beyond belief. Please, God, help a world run amuck!

 

[The Chicken Lady]

I was walking into an academic building for my sophomore year of college. I had gotten up late after spending a large portion of the night reading for class, so I hadn't bothered to turn on the TV or look at the computer yet.

The particular classroom I was headed to was located inside a living center (read: fancy dorm), so I walked past a common area where a HUGE group of students was sitting around watching the TV. This wasn't incredibly unusual...however, no one was joking or talking and everyone seemed strangely serious. I took a look at the TV and the first thing I saw was a shot of the first plane flying into the World Trade Center.

I whispered to a person next to me, "What movie is this?" (I figured it was one of those "faked" news scenes like in "Independence Day" where they use the real news station graphics and so forth. I also don't watch a lot of movies, so I figured it was another end-of-the-world movie I had ignored). The person whispered back, "It's not a movie. It's for real." I was stunned.

The rest of the day I spent attending "emergency meetings" and hanging up fliers all over campus. I was an RA (resident assistant), so I had to help other people cope with the tragedy and the fear before I was allowed even a spare moment to reflect on it myself. By the end of the week, I was absolutely exhausted, whether from going to meetings, visiting with frantic students, or staying up all night at candlelight vigils while still going to class and doing my homework.

At the end of the week, I got permission from my boss and packed up a few things and went home to my parents' house on the other side of the state, just to see them and to "get away" for a weekend. I think the only thing I did that weekend was sleep.

It was probably one of the most intense weeks of my college life, and one I'm hoping we won't repeat any time soon.

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

I was at work at the hospital and one of my co-workers came in telling about the "plane that accidentally hit the WTC". We found a TV...then tuned in to the internet as the scene unfolded. We all left work around 1:00 pm and went home to watch it.

 

[buck-wild-chick]

I was in 2nd grade, And they turned the t.v on.. I was to young to understand though...

 

[MagsC]

I was grocery shopping in Winona, Minnesota when a friend that was with me and I heard the news. My daughters were both in school and they said outdoor activities were cancelled until everyone knew exactly what was going on.

 

[kbarrett]

I was working at the racetrack. The radio on my side of the barn was on the fritz so each time I had a few minutes I'd run to the other side & listen. I was supposed to go with one of my horses to run out of town at another track, by the end of the morning everything was cancelled. When my AM work was done my friend & I went over to a sportsbar/restaurant which has like 8 tv sets. We sat there eating lunch watching all of the coverage in total shock (we're only about 150 mi from NYC) The cell phones were useless, all circuits were constantly busy. I remember how eerie it was in the next couple of days not seeing any air traffic.

 

[thndrdancr]

I was at home and watched the tv in horror, saw it almost from the first.

I found out later that I had a cousin who had been taking a tour of one of the stock trading companies in the second tower. She barely got out, they heard the crash in the first tower, she says she remembers starting down the stairs rather casually, remembered leaving her purse in the excitement back up on one of the desks when they were all looking out the windows to see what was happening. She started to go back up, but a older black gentlemen wouldnt let her and urged her to HURRY, to god's sake, hurry down those stairs.
This was right after the first crash.

She never knew what happened to that gentleman, or what higher power caused his urgency before anyone knew there was a concern, but it scared her enough that it caused her to hurry down the stairs, before they knew anything was really happening (they were on the 92nd), and it saved her life.

So thank you to all the heroes out there in everyday life, in all situations.

 

[@migocontodos~]

I had stayed up late the night before, well into the morning talking to my gf who is my dw now. She lived just out of Houston.
She called me right after the first plane hit, so I got up and turned on the TV just in time to see the 2nd plane hit. I knew then, it was no accident, only soon to find out that the Pentagon had been hit too.
I spent the entire day in front of the TV. How sad and depressing it was.
On September 19th, Pam and I flew into NYC to go to a Broadway show and to visit some friends.
Even though still fresh in our minds, I remember telling her that NY would be okay. The streets were by no means packed that night. But many had heeded the call of the Gov. and were TRYING to go about life as normal!

Let us never forget!

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

DH had worked a night shift and we had planned to go to the beach that day after he had slept a few hours. After he went to bed, I took a pregnancy test. As I had expected, it was positive! I was very excited and happily bustling about feeding our toddler and packing for the beach trip restraining myself from waking dh to tell him the good news when I heard the radio announcers talking about the WTC and one of them began to cry. I listened in disbelief and then moved to the living room to watch. I kept the baby's high chair turned away so she wouldn't see.

After the attack on the pentagon I went and woke my husband. "We're at war."

He told me to finish packing and we went to his parents. He felt that we lived too close to a "target rich" area and he knew he would be gone for a while. After he got us to his moms and left for work and lockdown there I debated telling him. I didn't want him to be any more worried about us than he already was. I wanted him to be able to focus. But, I was also terrified that he would be killed and never know he had a baby on the way. I finally told him when he was able to come home on Sept 14th. My sister deployed Sept 15th. She has served three tours. I lost no one that day, but have lost several good people since.

She started first grade this year and didn't understand why mommy cried this morning....

 

[chick_newbie]

Seven years ago I was sleeping, being how I work nights at a local hospital as a lab tech. I kept waking up that day to use the bathroom and just thought that the news was on each time since I sleep with the tv on. All four of the kids were in school and couldn't believe that I really didn't know what was going on. I did have a relative in the Pentagon that day but he was safe from the attack.

My only sibling is in the National Guards here and was one of the first troops called up and was in Kuwait in 2003 and some of the first troops to cross the border to Iraq when we started to attack. Thankfully he came home safe and sound a few months later. He now deals with the processing for getting the troops ready to be deployed and returning home.

Now seven years later my oldest son is in the Air Force and has just left Iraq and is in Qatar on his way home and I can't say how proud of him I am, and just relieved that he is on his way home again.

I always felt terrible for all the lives that were lost that day between all the crashes. Especially when you are kind of oblivious to things because you run a different schedule and don't really keep up on things up to the second like everyone else.