[mcmama]

Today is September 11.

It is a day of mourning in the United States and throughout the world.

Where were you the morning of September 11, 2001? What will you do today?

Where do you think you will be the morning of September 11, 2011?

[MissyChrissy]

I was working at a mental health clinic. We (secretaries & therapists) stood in the waiting room watching the tv. Some therapists panicked & cried-freaking out because they couldn't reach loved ones who were in NYC or worse yet, worked in the world trade center. I remember thinking, "You're the ones with crisis intervention experience-I don't know what to do" and they were looking to me, their secretary, for help. After that-November I think-I did take Crisis Intervention classes. The state police called and asked about our crisis services, hours, things like that-to have information to refer to people affected by the disaster. I remember thinking-we're not any better off here than anyone else is...it was such a powerless, helpless, scary moment.

Today, I will go to school. I will think a lot about 9/11, and probably cry (I already did 2-3 days ago when I realized how close we were to the anniversary). Last year, I was driving to school when the radio had moments of silence to mark the times the planes hit...that was hard for me to listen to & I really bawled then. I'm sure something will strike me again today-it's just not something anyone ever gets over.

[mommy2067]

I remember exactly where I was.....(isn't that what many say that remember when JFK was shot too???)....I was in my kitchen doing dishes...my kids had gone off to school about 20 min before that..my dd was starting Senior Kindergarten, when my girlfriend phoned and told me to turn on the T.V. that a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center Buildings...Couldn't believe my ears or eyes!!! From that moment on was glued to the T.V. I really couldn't grasp it when I saw the other plane hit!!!! I remember calling the school and speaking to the secretary and telling them...I called a bunch of people...It was soooo scary and sad...My heart went out to all those people all those families....Here in my hometown in Canada I attended a candlelight vigil/memorial I can't remember exactly what night it was but they had police/fire/paramedics all there...It was very moving...It all was so surreal...I cried soooo much for days!!!

I too have cried on the anniversaries...remembering...especially when there are clips on the news...

Today...I will remember how everyone came together from all over to help out, to be there, to try to make sense of such a senseless act and when that couldn't be done doing what could be to pick up the pieces and stand strong....Reaching out across borders in love and friendship...I will also give thanks for all my blessings...family, friends, freedom....With tears in my eyes...I will remember....

[lpelham]

You guys, please keep the heroic rescue workers who rushed to the World Trade Center (or what was left of it) in your thoughts. So many of them have damaged health due to being down there. There are plenty of shows and documentaries covering this and it is so sad. Most don't seem angry that they are ill, only angry that they are not receiving the health care or the disability pay they so desperately need.

Six years later, 9/11 is still claiming victims.

Libby

[mommy2067]

Too true...too true and sooo very sad!!!

[amholb0]

I was driving to school, when I heard about the first plane on the radio. At the time they didn't really think it was an attack. I went ahead to class and when I got out I was waiting by the elevator and some guy said to me, "We'll be going to war soon." I just kind of nodded thinking he was a nut. I hadn't heard about the second plane yet and didn't connect what he was saying with what I heard on the news. I went to my job as a tutor and at the center they had the TV on and everyone was around it. I didn't really find out until then about 2p in the afternoon what was going on. I had spent all day in back to back classes. I'm still amazed that non of my professors or classmates were talking about it. I guess everyone in classes like me.
Today, I will probably be weepy. I'm still so glad that my brother was home. He travels three weeks out of the month and takes many international flights. I am very lucky to have most my family very close to me.
In 2011, hopefully I will be telling my children of this horrible thing that happened and has never happened again.

[mcmama]

I remember driving to work, heading north on Rt 17 in northern NJ heading for suffern NY. At the time I worked at a music school, and the office was in the director's home. I had just come over a ridge in Ramsey where if you looked in the rearview mirror you could see the full manhattan skyline. Then it disappeared from view. A few minutes later as I was pulling into the Mahwah post office, I heard Tom Kaminski come on with the traffic report - and he told the people at WCBS880 to look at their monitors. I think he was the first person to report it.

When I got to the office, the director was ready to go teach in Manhattan - I told him to forget it, and he didn't believe me. He even said that a traffic tie up in lower manhattan would not affect the upper west side, and he could take the GW bridge or the Tappan Zee. As he drove off I was shouting "But Manhattan is CLOSED!!!!" He returned within 5 minutes. Everything was closed.

In the office, I answered phone calls from teachers and parents. The mother of one teacher could not reach her, as the phones were down. Her husband had seen the first tower come down from Liberty State Park, and called on his cell to tell her. She had the tv on, and became hysterical when the second tower collapsed. By the end of the day, we knew that at least one parent was dead, and there were quite a few that were missing. One of our teachers who was due back that day was stranded in Europe for over a week.


Once I knew that the skys were clear and that a terrorist attack on my children's schools in Englewood NJ was unlikely, I got back to work.

Phones in Rockland still worked, so I made as many calls as I could to families to touch base, tell them that lessons were cancelled till the weekend, and assess what was going on. Most of our families lived in NJ and the phones were out in many places. Every call I answered was from someone who was sobbing. It was as though connecting with me meant that the entire world was not falling apart after all. It was just weird.

I left the office and visited one of the schools where we rented space for lessons, to confirm that no activity would take place for the rest of the week. By now it was afternoon, and most children had been picked up. The principal was there with several frightened children. Some of them were not picked up until around 8 pm that night. There was no way to find out where their parents were, and no way to phone. I think he wound up driving the last of them to the home of their emergency contact.

As for me, the trip to pick up my children at two different schools was normally a 45 minute drive. It took two hours, because the schools were near the entrance to the George Washington Bridge, and security was everywhere to turn people away, so local traffic was crazy. The sky was a deep clear blue, and everything was way too quiet. We got home safe and sound. Some of their friends families had some narrow escapes. And some of their friends were from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Kazakhstan. News from home was very important to those families.

While eating our late dinner, we looked at souvenir post cards and a bullet that my aunt and uncle had brought back from Dawson Field, Jordan, when they were held hostage by the PLO in 1970. I realized that the world had indeed changed if we could look back on attacks like that one as "the good old days". Now no one would just do as the terrorists said on any plane - because now the only way to assure survival or minimize damage is to fight.

Today I was going to fly our flag, but the weather has been awful. So I am working and keeping life normal.

In 2011, I expect that I will no longer be in this area, but I will constantly worry because I suspect that my oldest will settle here, and my youngest wants a career with a branch of the military and is applying to service academies.

[LeanyBean]

Where were you the morning of September 11, 2001? I was where I usually was, just starting my day. I also found out that morning that I was expecting my second child.

What will you do today? I keep those affected by 9-11 in my thoughts

Where do you think you will be the morning of September 11, 2011? Not sure but probably doing what I do most September days now, sending my kids off to school and keep soldiering on with my day-to-day life.

[Alejandros Mommy]

I was doing my clinical for Nrsg school...all the T.V's where on.....I remember watching the towers go down....

I really think that Firemen are not given enough respect for their bravery.....the go into situations that everyone else would run from. These men/women are brave and courageous. Dh is going to a memorial for this in his #1's The firefighters will never forget this.

Just wanted to add a response to the 6 1/2 yr later thing.....it is sad...but what's even worse is that they are telling the firemen and police officers.."you knew the risks of the job when you signed on" and limiting their health coverage. Its just sad.

[mama2riley]

My dh and I were driving home, a 500 mile trip after celebrating our recent wedding out with family in Iowa. We were stopped at a gas station and the radio came on with the news that sounded serious...it took me a few minutes to figure out what was happening without seeing it...when dh got in the car I told him a plane flew into one of the towers, but I wasn't clear yet why it happened. Then we started driving and the second one hit. We were in shock and knew it had to be more than an accident now for sure. The entire 10 hour drive home we listened to the news on the radio but NOTHING would ever to compare to getting home, flipping on the televsion and see it with our own eyes. I felt sick. I was worried about connections I had to friends and family in NYC. I feel sick now thinking about those people on the planes and in the buildings. I am proud of the bravery of those firefighters and police officers who sacrificed so much that day for strangers - THAT is what America is about. That was a day I was truly proud to be an American. I will never forget that day whether it was 5 years ago, 10, or 30.