Where were you when the world changed forever?
I’ll never forget it. I had just dropped Brian at school. He was a first grader then. Alyssa wasn’t yet two, and she was in the car with me. They broke into the sports report on the radio to say a plane had hit the World Trade Center in New York. They thought it might be a small, single engine place, though there were reports it was a larger jet. As I drove home, I listened to the eye witness reports. It became clear this was a bigger plane, perhaps a 737.
I can tell you exactly where on the road I was when the second plane hit. I immediately knew it was terrorism – screamed the word. Everyone knew in that second. Even with shaking hands and tear-blurred vision, I manage to drive the last two miles home.
Doug was home that day, putting the roof on our shed. I was so thankful for that. They were concerned about attacks on other government buildings. He works in one. His dad was due to come in a little while to help. As soon as I pulled into the driveway, I grabbed Alyssa from her car seat and ran across the yard to Doug. By then I was crying hard. Doug had the radio on outside and had heard. I don’t remember what he said to me, but he calmed me.
I guess Alyssa played around me that day while I watched T.V. They had gone to their Pentagon correspondent and he reported the sound of an explosion. At first they thought a helicopter had crashed on the roof, but then it became clear what that sound was.
I watched in horror as the first tower fell. Doug came inside for something just at that point. They were talking on the news, not looking at their monitors. They weren’t reporting it, but I told Doug I thought the tower collapsed. It had been there a minute before and now it was gone. I remember pointing to the blank spot on the screen where the building had been, telling him it was gone. Then I sat in stunned silence.
I turned the T.V. off before Brian came home from school. By then the second tower had fallen and the plane had crashed in Pennsylvania. I didn’t know what they had told him at school, but I wanted to be able to talk to him about it in my own way. I don’t think he understood at that time what was happening, but he remembers things from that day.
As I reread what I wrote, I realize it is broken and choppy. I’m not going to change it, because that’s how I felt that day and how I still feel thinking about it. Seeing the place where Flight 93 crashed and getting a glimpse of the Pentagon on our recent trip brought it all home again – these things really happened in real places to real people.
This is the field in Pennsylvania where Flight 93 crashed. The white wall and mowed strip mark the flight path. The large rock is the site of the crash. Standing at the overlook, trying to understand, the people there were absolutely silent. Silent out of respect for those who lost their lives in that place and silent because emotions are too overwhelming in that moment.
Where were you when the world changed? Feel free to share your stories and your remembrances of that day. And let’s all pray for God’s peace and His healing for our world.
I remember it quite clearly, even though we’re ‘on the other side of the world’. Ben was only 2 months old.
I had just turned the radio on to catch the ‘Classic Drive’ show (it was evening here) while I waited for my husband to come home. The news came on, and the first thing that was said was that the second tower had just collapsed. The radio station had been running a series of adverts in which something really bizarre was ‘reported’ – it was for insurance or something. I thought that this was actually an advert. Then I realised that it was the actual news and that something dramatic was going on in America!
WE don’t have a TV so I quickly tried to get onto CNN.com. It took ages to download – probably the whole world was logged on. That’s where Malcolm found me when he got in, he’d heard on his way home. Family of family was in NYC waiting to fly home, and had their flight cancelled.
Even though we don’t live there, it left us with so many emotions! I’ll never forget it.
Your recollection is just heart-wrenching!
I was with a friend, car-pooling to class in Valdosta. Her husband called her cell phone and told us. I think at that point we turned on the radio. When we got to VSU, it was so quiet, except for the news on TV. Once settled in class, our professor said, “Go home. I can’t stand up here and pretend that nothing is wrong.”
Then another held class…as if anyone in that room could think about a subject matter.
When we got back to our town, I had to work at my dad’s restaurant. No one came in. Town was deserted. Churches were flooded. God was the only one who could ease that sickening feeling.