Where were u 9/11/01?

mrscableman · Sep 11, 2006

I was sitting in an office listening to the radio all alone. I wanted to leave to go get my kids but didnt. I prayed and prayed as I do often for the people it affected personally. There was nothing I could do at the time. I find it strange that now as of 9/11/06 I will be starting my nursing career in a hospital on the same date. and I think about it daily. I will never forget

Christi

rach_nc_03 · Sep 11, 2006

I was working in corporate strategy for a tech company headquartered in Toronto (I was living in north carolina). I was scheduled to fly to TO on Sept. 11th for a big meeting with the CEO, and it seemed like this was going to be a huge career milestone.

Right before the first plane hit, I was sitting on my bed, zipping up my suitcase so i could head to the airport. Charlie Gibson on GMA was talking about how it must've been a small commuter plane, and the second tower was hit while he was talking. I had an overwhelming urge to jump under my bed and hide- i really thought the world was coming to an end.

Needless to say, my trip never happened. I sat watching CNN daily for the next few days, 12-18 hours a day. My whole view of the world changed that week. In the five years since, I was laid off from that job (actually 3 weeks after 9/11), went back to school for my nursing degree, had half a dozen surgeries, and I spent the last 2 years alone, as my husband was stationed overseas in the military. So many things in my life have changed radically since that day- my worldview was permanently altered, and I try to live every day like it may be my last. That's not always easy to remember, but this anniversary certainly brings it back into focus.

jonear2, RN · Sep 11, 2006

I was moving intoa new house. The last thing we packed was the TV, right before we unplugged it the footage of the 1st plane hitting the towers came on and all eyes were glued from then on out. I remember thinking (before anyone knew what was going on) how terrible for such an accident to happen. Then it just kept getting worse and worse. Nope, I will never forget that day.

Mississippi_RN · Sep 11, 2006

I was at work in a hospital billing department. I guess it was about break time for some of the people and they were in the break room watching TV. I remember walking in and looking at the TV the minute the second plane hit one of the Towers. I, too, remember thinking before seeing the second plane hit "how could someone be so stupid to hit a building that big?" Then, I slowly realized it wasnt an accident, but deliberate. Then, little by little, I heard about the Pentagon and the other flight that the passengers diverted. It took a while for everything to sink in for me. But, I remember, for a long time I was scared...I felt HORRIBLE for all the people in NYC (would have for ANYONE) but I couldnt help thinking "well...they picked NYC this time, but whats to say they couldnt hit here next time???"

It is a day that will be in the history books... and I just wish to God it wasnt so...

kayel · Sep 11, 2006

I was at the gym when I saw the first pics on the t.v. but I didn't know the enormity of things at that point because all I saw was a glimpse of the towers and smoke. I had my little 2 year old son with me and met my dh for coffee by about 10:00 and the first tower had fallen .. the manager of the coffeeshop was a good friend and from somewhere in the US and he is the one who told us.

coley28 · Sep 11, 2006

I was a junior in high school and was in my morning U.S. History class when another teacher ran in and told my teacher to put on the TV. We watched as the 2nd plane hit. I dont even think I understood the severity of the situation at the time until another teacher told my class "You will remember this date for the rest of your lives."

mandykal, ADN, RN · Sep 11, 2006

Wow, this is amazing...see how we're all affected by this. All the posters have one thing in common, we all knew what we did that whole day.

Nur_1996 · Sep 11, 2006

I just got out of a college class and stopped into the library. There were a bunch of students, standing around watching the TV, and faces were so sad. I thought for sure the world was going to end. Just then The second tower was hit, while we were watching. I deceided I was late for my next dreadful class of Algebra and if the world was indeed ending that was the last place I would want to be. I spoke to my husband, went home, spent time with my kids. A very trying time for everyone, makes you think of how fragile life really is.

Sonn · Sep 11, 2006

The effect of this horrible event impacted throughout the world. I live in Australia. I was at my grandmothers house looking after her and the news showed the first plane hitting the tower. In disbelief I also saw the second plane crash. Many of us saw the event on live television from half way across the globe. It was a terrible shock to everyone and has changed the world forever.

Searchangel · Sep 11, 2006

I had worked night shift in ICU, and had received a call they needed a substitue teacher at the local high school and had ran home to shower and change. I would later learn that the principal that called me that mornings brother had parished in the attack. I had students asking for answers that I did not hold. And what I remember more was the urgent desire I had to get to a phone and call everyone and tell them I loved them, because no one knew where the next attack would be.

I sat tonight as they were showing footage and went back to that time and the fear, the tears and the heartache that felt by nation as a whole. I wondered how many of those families, wives and children were sitting and thinking that was the last night they got to hold their loved one and tell goodnight and that they loved them. And then I thought in the days that we live in, we could be the next to look back 5 yrs later... :crying2:

rn/writer, RN · Sep 11, 2006

I'd had surgery to repair a badly damaged broken ankle on 9/7. Couldn't manage stairs so I slept on the fold-out couch in our living room My husband had been taking care of me since I'd gotten out of the hospital two days earlier and, let's just say between the pain and the meds and the difficulty of finding a comfortable position that kept my foot elevated and the logistics of trying to maneuver to the bathroom in a wheelchair with my leg in a huge cast, I was not the best patient.

Dh had experienced a bit of compassion fatigue the night before and we were both feeling kind of snitty when he went up to bed.

I awoke in dire need of pain meds and the bathroom. Struggled into the wheelchair and had to hop the last few steps as the w/c didn't fit through the bathroom door. Was wallowing nicely in my sorrows when the phone rang. I heard my husband come down the stairs and remember feeling vulnerable because I couldn't close the bathroom door with the wheelchair in the way. I also felt grubby and annoyed and the last thing I needed was to be seen in that condition.

I told him to stay back and he did. But then he told me a plane had hit the Pentagon. Caring soul that I am, my first thought was, "Why should I worry about some idiot who can't keep his Cessna in the air. Besides, that place is built like a fortress."

Our oldest daughter had called from out of state and told us to turn on the news. I got myself together and wheeled back into the living room just in time to see a replay of the first tower collapsing. Shortly afterward, we watched the second tower come down in real time.

The whole scenario seemed surreal even before I took my pain meds.

We spent the rest of the day totally absorbed by the news coverage. I still felt awful but my personal pain seemed so unimportant. I would eventually get better. Those poor people trapped in the doomed planes and buildings would not.

We called our kids who didn't live at home and told them we loved them. And we prayed. And we watched hour after hour of coverage. We just couldn't turn the TV off.

Not that night but the next, I slept through the time I should have taken my pain meds. With the TV on in the background, I dreamt I was trapped in the rubble at Ground Zero. I could hear the rescuers working to free us, and I wished they would hurry because squirrels were gnawing on my ankle and it really hurt!

My physical pain is nothing compared to the horrendous suffering that occurred on that day and those that followed. But it did add an interactive twist to my perception of the whole experience. I feel like I was there. In a way, I think we all were there for a time.

I wish the unity that arose out of the tragedy was still in effect. It was nice while it lasted.

DDRN4me · Sep 11, 2006

How true that it is a day that no one will forget.

I was at work in an elementary school...the cafeteria ladies had a radio on and came out crying...told us what they had heard. we couldnt keep a tv on in the classrooms but the principal put one in her office . we snuck in one or two at a time to see what was happening.

My dh had flown in to Logan airport 2 days before from a business trip..,and to this day swears that one of the hijackers was in the row next to him:uhoh21:

dd#1 was working in Disney...she called to tell me they sent her home as Disney was closed as it was presumed to be a potential target.

dd#2 was in HS, went to my brother (who is a teacher there ) and sat in his room to watch.Her bf (now fiance ) called to tell me his commander had told him to pack his bags and sit by the door ; that he would be mobilized ...didnt know when or where but he should stand by. he came to my house and sat with bags packed for 4 days waiting......He is now completing his tour of duty in Iraq.

Our town lost a couple of people; one whose daughter was a close friend of mine...we had been with him at a field hockey game the saturday before.

several other people, including one of the pilots, lived locally.

One of my patients had died the week before, and we buried her on the 10th. thought that was one of the saddest days of my life...until the next day.

i did go to ground zero a couple of years ago, on July 4th. still makes me cry just thinking about it. I am having a very hard time this year, dont even want to go to work . Just praying for those who lost thier lives and thier families. as well as those who are serving to protect our country from another horrible act such as that.