Due you remember where you were on 9/11 ten years ago?
I do. I was in the computer lab working as a technology integration teacher at a school in Northern Virginia right near Dulles Airport.
The library aide came to the door of the lab and asked me to come see something that was on television in the library. I couldn’t imagine what she wanted me to see. There weren’t any new videos in the library I needed to preview. There couldn’t be anything I needed to see.
She remained silent as we walked down the hall and then to the left towards the library. Once she made it into the backroom away from the library filled with children, she finally uttered the words that would change the rest of the school year. She said, “ The Twin Towers have been hit in New York by planes.”
That didn’t make sense. I had landed in all three airports near New York and hadn’t gone near the Twin Towers.
“They think it was done unpurpose!” she said.
I watched the footage on the television in the backroom and it just didn’t look real. It looked like it was from a movie.
After watching the news for a few minutes, I made my way back to the computer lab. It was empty of students, but there were teachers waiting to use the phone I had near my desk. Each wanted to check on a spouse. Some has spouses that were working downtown and others had spouses in airports around the country. The lab was filled with panicked tension.
The school quickly went into lockdown as the school system weighed what should be done. Ultimately they decided that the children would be released to parents that came to the school. Each parent would have to show an I.D. before they would be allowed to go home.
Teachers were encouraged to go home as soon was school was over. I think many of us did just that. I know I went straight home.
Aside from phone calls to my parents and siblings to make sure they were okay, I sat glued to the television watching the story unfold that afternoon
My church had prayer vigil that night, but I didn’t go. I felt safe at home and just wanted to stay there. Instead I spent the evening talking with a friend. We talked for hours about all kinds of things. Some things were random like the fact that I had stayed in the hotel at the base of the Twin Towers and they had worked in the Pentagon. Other things were more serious like what we thought would happen next or how much the world had changed in a day. I lived alone and was so grateful to have someone to connect with that night.
Things did change where I lived.
A check in person was hired for each school to watch the main door and sign all visitors in and out for the rest of the year.
For days there was silence in the air. I lived right under the flight landing path for Dulles Airport. I was eerie to have an empty sky.
Things seemed to move slower as people tried to figure out how to live life in this new world.
This post is linked to Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop and A Dollap of My Life’s Remember 911.
What a powerful memory! It truly was an unforgettable day!
I remember it all too well too…had just dropped 2 year old Devin off at his morning preschool and was pulling in the parking lot of my flower shop when I heard it on the radio. I too recall how everyone moved slower and tried to make sense of what had happened to our nation. Very sad time.
I remember it like it was yesterday, hard to believe it has been 10 years.
9/11 happened when I was a college recruiter, and I was working a college fair at Elon College at the time.
I, too, was a teacher at that time. My students were looking for prose and poetry pieces in the library. The librarian came in from the AV room and told me she would watch my class, I needed to go to the back and see what was on the TV. There were a couple of other teachers in there as well. We watched in stunned silence. I the rest of the day was a blur.
While 9/11 and the days following were world-changing events, it really is crazy to think about all the after-effects and new policies, etc that were put into place as a result.
It truly was a day that moved slowly for the entire nation. The aftermath of that day moved along just as slowly for quite some time. I don’t think we have ever gotten back to norm since that day. ~Hugs, M
(PS you were tagged in a post I wrote this morning)
This is one of the days that changed everyone. I was supposed to be in Pentagon that day, but last minute change of plans landed me in Dallas where I was stuck until I could finally fly to Philly and drive back home to NJ. Crazy times… and everything is as fresh as yesterday.
Hard to believe that was ten years ago. I think it was amazing how the nation pulled together after such a tragedy, but I hope to never see anything like that again.
I remember that morning as if it were yesterday. My husband was in the shower, so I was alone in our bedroom when I saw one plane hit the tower. The moment the second one hit, I knew it was no accident and that life as we knew it would never be the same.
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I, too,was teaching at the time. I remember the parents coming to pick up their children. Similar procedures took over at school – someone watching the door to buzz people in, etc.
All the memories of what we were doing that day is the one way we can all feel “together” no matter what our political inclination. I wish people would remember that unity we shared when they go about their daily lives today.
Powerful post!
It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years. It still doesn’t seem real.
I can’t believe it’s been 10 years. I still remember what I was doing when this happened. It gives me chills every time I think about it.
It’s so surreal that it’s already been ten years since the attacks. I was a college student at the time and on my way to my Ancient Civilizations class. I remember hearing the news and just being numb the rest of the day. I was glued to my TV and absolutely stunned everytime I saw the coverage. I still am, really.
I was on the bus on my way to work and it was late. By the time I got to work, my dept was empty b/c people were in the breakroom watching TV. It was very eerie. I remember going home and crying all night about it. I had horrible dreams. I was in OKC when the bombing happened, I felt it and heard it. I was terrified when 9/11 happened.
I was single at the time too. I was so glad to have friends to turn to, even though I lived alone. I’ll never forget how quiet the sky was that night without any planes. Very eerie.
I clearly remember dropping my oldest off at school and feeling sick inside. I cried all the way back home. The whole situation is different when you have kids because you don’t want them to be involved in such ugliness!
I’ll never forget it – all those images! It’s crazy! I was trying to explain it to my oldest…and it was weird to think he wasn’t even born when it all happened!
It really was a day that time stood still for many of us. I was directing a daycare center at the time with a 20 month old and 6 months pregnant with my 2nd. It was truly heartstopping.
I had forgotten about the fact that planes did not fly for several days…
Such a crazy day- and how worrying to be in charge of children that were being picked up all while you probably wanted to get right home. For sure nothing was ever the same.
The empty skies were the most eerie of all. Thank you for sharing your story. I can’t imagine being a teacher through it.
I was teaching then too. As the terrifying day continued to unfold, I kept thinking, “How do you explain this to a second grader?! What words should I choose when discussing this with a child?”
It was a day that did change the world…
We will never forget
The world was forever changed on that sad day of terror.