Where Were You on 9/11?

My mom was getting ready to go and visit her in-laws. My grandpa was set to arrive home from a hospital stay and she wanted to be on-hand to help and get him settled. She had not left the house yet and The Today Show was on in the background as my mom got ready to leave. She saw the second plane hit the tower on live TV.

I was at college. My husband was there too. And so were so many of our good friends. We were all in different places on campus, yet connected during that fateful day. It is a dark memory during the happy times of college.

I was on the phone, an actual payphone, when I realized that tragedy had struck. There I was just chatting with my dad who was at work. He was in his office, located a few hours away from me in a different state when every television screen in the country began showing what had happened. I can still see all of the kids at the campus union staring at the footage of the Twin Towers on fire.

My spouse was in his senior design class when he heard the news. He recalls exactly what he was studying in that course, at that exact time, on the second floor of the engineering college.

My children were not born yet, but they know about 9/11. They hear about it from us and the older ones learn about it in school. My daughter said she needs to be sure to wear red, white, and blue in honor of Patriot Day.

Because we can never forget. And we never should.

Where were you? What were you doing? How did you cope?

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