Where Were You on September 11th?
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Where Were You on September 11th?
When the first tower fell, I was sleeping in my dorm room. (In my defense, I was in the central time zone.) Is that memorable? On September 11th, wasn’t every detail memorable?
I remember turning on the television, struggling to make sense of what was happening.
I remember the woman in the room next to mine, panicking when she couldn’t reach her mother, who worked in the Sears Tower, in the confusion of those early hours when every prominent building and every major city suddenly became a potential target.
I remember saying goodbye to the international students whose parents called them home, fearing that the United States was no longer a safe place for their children.
I remember deciding to attend graduate school in Chicago the following year, and how, for the first several years, I would think foremost of the city’s vulnerability upon seeing the skyline, and only secondarily of its grand beauty.
I remember my trip to Ground Zero about five years ago–wandering around New York for the first time, finding my way to the site by following the sunlight that worked its way onto the sidewalk where it should have been obscured by the towers.
Watching the events of 9/11, and the tragedy and humanity that unfolded in its aftermath, affected me, and I was just some kid on a campus in the Midwest.
This, the 10th anniversary, provides an occasion to remember–to remember where we were individually and to reflect on how we have been changed, and just as importantly, to remember those who have been lost, and bring to the forefront of our minds those who still grieve. This is a time to step above matters of divisiveness, to once again pull together–all of us, as a nation, as a people–and think carefully about where we are, where we have been, where we are going.
Where were you on September 11th?
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Like you GL I was still in bed here in Alabama. Learning about it later and watching the endless replays of the the planes fly into the towers was indeed a shock. Later learning that this was carried out by a small group of Islamic terrorists was even more shocking.
I watched the daily updates as the true heroes of that day, the first responders struggled every day, 24/7, to save as many people as possible from the rubble. I have watch since as the nation has been turning their backs on those heroes.
It was a very sad day for America on so many different levels.
I was in my car on my way out of town for a court appearance listening to sports radio, something I used to do in those days. The usual babble about this team or that was interrupted by the news that a “small” plane, maybe a Cessna, had flown into one of the towers. Shortly after there was another interruption about how a bigger plane had flown into the other tower. Then complete confusion ensued when the sports guys said it looked like the towers had actually collapsed. The courtroom was packed with lawyers. It was a motion docket. The judge came out, and standing at the bench explained what had happened, and that the victims and safety of America should be in our thoughts and prayers. Absolutely surreal, and horrific. You could have heard a pin drop.