9/11 stories, where were you on 9/11? Options

[timeflies51]

The five-year anniversary of 9/11 has arrived. Care to share your stories? I'll start with mine.


I was in fifth grade, and we already had a half day scheduled. They didn't tell us what had happened. There didn't even seem to be tension in the school, or maybe I just didn't notice it. I remember walking around the perimeter of my schoolyard during recess, and randomly, I began to sing the "Mishaberach" to myself, which is a song we sing in Temple praying for the healing of mind and spirit.

When I got home, my mom was still in her exercise wear, squatting right in front of the TV, licking peanut butter off a spoon. I laughed and joked, "Oh, now you like watching TV, huh?" (She always picked on me for watching too much TV at that time.) She calmly told me no and explained what had happened.

That afternoon, as I went around the neighborhood for our school fundraiser, I predicted that everyone would be watching it on TV. And, of course, they were. I just find it creepy that I had a sudden urge to sing the "Mishaberach" even though I didn't know what had happened.


What's your story?

[think!IMAGINARIL...]

I think I was in 4th grade at that time? Er. Yeah.
I went to this public school in Queens Village at that time. Thank God it was 10 miles from Manhattan. Thank God I lived in Queens at that time. Thank God my mom didn't go to work and my dad had night shift.
It was 10. I had math class at that time and then a lot of kids were being called out. I thought they had detention or something and then I was told to go to the office with my things. I was really scared. When I reached the office, my little brother was there with my parents.. My sister went to Stuyvesant at that time. She was a senor. Her school was less than 10 blocks from the WTC.. I asked my parents what happened and they refused to tell me. Instead, they took us home and turned the TV to CNN. I saw the towers fall and I started crying. "WHY? WHY? Why does this have to happen??" I screamed. And then I though of my sister. She didn't have a phone. She had no way of contacting us. I was really crying now. I thought something happened to her. I thought she died. It was really painful. We spent over 6 hours in silence sitting around the TV after that. At around 5, my sister came home and I ran to her crying.. She was crying too. She was crying more than I was. She had to watch the towers fall, the people jump out of the buildings. It turns out she walked home with a few of her friends.. We were all relieved. She was safe.

It was SO scary. I thought my dad went to work that day.. And he works in the United Nations which I thought was a target at that time. Thank God he had night shift..

I was really traumatized for about 2 years.. Everytime a plane flew over my house, I hid under the bed, thinking my house was a target. The worse thing was, I started to watch the news constantly at that time. I remember then talking about the "Silent Killer" (Carbon Monoxide) and kidnappers and serial killers and Al Qaeda.. That traumatized me even more. I was really depressed in 4th grade. I really changed that year. I became a little bit antisocial and stopped talking to my friends.

And y'know.. I don't think I've ever really gotten over it. I'm still recovering from it.