On September 11, 2001 a friend of our called us at home and told us to turn on the television. We turned on the television and couldn’t believe what we were seeing. Jet planes smashing into the Twin Towers. At first I thought it was a joke or some sort of movie stunt.
The phone kept ringing and people were calling to see if my husband was at home or on the road. (He travels by plane almost every week for his job) Thankfully, he was home that day.
We watched television all morning and flipped around to all the news outlets to see who was recording what. That was the day I had my first Women’s Bible Study at Brookside Church. It was the Search for Significance study.
We didn’t have Fiona or Kinsley at the time and Lauren was at Elementary school. She was in the 5th grade at the time. I was debating on whether or not I should go to the first day of class because of what was happening. My husband encouraged me to go and assured me that he would not be going anywhere.
The year 2001 was also the year that Don and I were married. We married in June, so every time September OR June rolls around those anniversaries always remind me of how many years we’ve been married.
Anyway, I went to the Bible Study as did the other ladies in my class. It was one of the best classes I could have taken for myself. It taught me A LOT about forgiveness and how it’s ok to have made mistakes in my life and that it is possible to move forward and to be confident about who I am.
After class I went home and was glued to the television for the rest of the day. I was sure that the attacks on our nation that day would not be the last. Being the Army Brat that I am, I was almost positive the attacks would continue because this one was too sophisticated to just let go.
The television stayed on the news channels for the next month and I became a professional channel flipper. I also began to understand the dynamics of the news media and came to know which ones were in it for the ratings. (Sad but True)
September 11th, 2001 is not the first time terroristic activity has shown itself. I know that having lived in a military family. I know and understand the history of terrorism.
I’d like to know what you were doing on September 11th, 2001. I hope you will write about it on your blogs and post it. I am interested in knowing your story no matter how big or small. I’d also like to link to your post about September 11th and hope you don’t mind.
My past posts about September 11th:
People did not just die on September 11th
Remembering September 11, 2001
From my News Reader:
Obama calls for service on 7th Commemoration of 9/11
McCain, Obama put politics aside to Mark Sept. 11
Video: 102 minutes that changed America
Never Forget: North Tower Collapse
Never Forget: United Airlines Flight 93
Never Forget: South Tower Collapse
Never Forget: United Airlines Flight 175
Never Forget: American Airlines Flight 11
Seven years later Remembrance and Resolve
Michelle Malkin went to town on Remembering September 11, 2001
Olbermann: Republicans Hijacked 9/11
I will never understand people that actually believe that the United States Government had something to do with the September 11, 2001 attacks on the USA. I think it’s despicable of those conspiracy theorists to ever go there!
I will check back later on today to see who else is blogging about 9/11 that happens to be in my newsreader. If you are not in my news reader and would like to be listed because you have shared your 9/11 story – leave a comment, share your story and I will add you to this list. I will do this until Midnight Tonight CST so there is still time for you to work on your September 11th post.
9/11 bloggers before midnight
New York Skyline, September 11, 2008
Never Forget: American Airlines Flight 77
Remembering September 11, 2001
[...] http://angela-stevens.com/archives/where-were-you-on-september-11-2001/ [...]
[...] Where were you September the 11th, 2001 ?? [...]
I was in the hospital, having given birth to my son the previous evening. When I was told (and shown) about everything I thought it was a joke at first. Wow.
[...] Domestic Divapalooza Filed under Off Topic, Yoshi2me’s Buzz [...]
That was my first morning of Bible Study at Brookside too. I couldn’t decide if I should go either but finally went. As I drove into the parking lot I remember seeing two military planes fly over the church probably on their way to Offut. What a surreal day.
I really like the picture montage at the top of your post.
That year, I’d begun keeping my journal on the computer and was very faithful in keeping up with it. (I sort of lost that “faithfulness”– I need to rejuvinate it!) I knew it would be one of those life-changing days, so I very quickly started writing in my journal what was happening, AS it was happening. I’ll post part of my entry from that day. Just reading it again brought back that naseaus feeling in the pit of my stomach I had all that morning.
“My mother in law called, while I was getting Sara ready to get on the bus for school a little while ago. She said the World Trade Center in New York City had been attacked by terrorists. I turned on the TV………two airplanes, purposely crashed into the twin towers. One plane into each tower. They are both on fire……..it’s so weird……..it’s like watching a movie……..and just seems so unreal, yet I’m looking at it on TV with my own eyes. Then, I sat down here at the computer to write in my journal, and as I was typing it out, I heard Peter Jennings say that another plane had crashed outside the Pentagon! The Pentagon is on fire and is being evacuated. Oh my gosh! Just now, as I was typing that last sentence…..I can’t believe this… he said that a plane out of Boston has just been hijacked! The planes that crashed into the twin towers were commercial planes………I wonder if they were hijacked, too. That means that the plane just hijacked out of Boston, might be forced to crash into another government building!! This is just so terrifying. I can’t believe this is happening… Oh my gosh! They just said on the news that one of the twin towers……the WHOLE BUILDING has just collapsed to the ground………the WHOLE THING is gone…like a demolition team had blown it up. Heaven help us………I’ll come back to this later. I need to stop for now.
Well, it’s been about 3 hours. After I stopped typing earlier, I went to pick Sara up from school, just in case. Since then, the other World Trade Center building has also collapsed. They are both GONE. They said 50,000 people worked in those buildings. It was horrible. They actually have it all on film. You can see the planes flying right into the buildings! You can see people hanging out the windows, waving towels and such. People jumped. Those buildings went thousands of feet into the air…..and people were JUMPING out. On purpose! You could see them, holding hands and jumping!
I can’t even imagine the fear and dread you’d have to feel to prefer jumping to your death. The suffering must have been horrible. God bless them! Then, all of sudden, the whole building collapsed down, floor by floor, each floor caving into the floor beneath it. A few minutes later, the other building fell too. A bunch of people got out, they’re completely covered in ashy stuff– I guess it’s concrete turned into powder from the fall. But there were still people in there… thousands of them. My heart is aching, the loss is just too great.
They just said the Pentagon is still on fire……and it was just about an hour ago, I remembered that Uncle Mark, (my father’s younger brother) works at the Pentagon!!
34 people there have been confirmed dead so far. I emailed my Dad, to let me know if he’s heard anything. The Pentagon damage was also caused by a hijacked airplane. A fourth plane was hijacked and crashed just south of Pittsburgh, though I haven’t heard any further news about that. There are reports of car bombs going off in front of the State Department. All air traffic across the country has been halted and planes in the air have been instructed to land at the closest airport.
As I went to pick up Sara, and parked the van outside of the school, I could see a huge white circle in the sky, where a plane had obviously turned around. They were putting all the schools in the district on lock down, so I’m glad I got there when I did.
When we got home, Bill briefly explained to the kids what was happening, and we had family prayer. I’m hoping that our Bishop will call a ward prayer meeting, and a ward fast.
Jennifer just sent this to me from the church website:
“Today has been a day that will be remembered always in the annals of our beloved nation. It has been a day when the ugly face of hatred has shown itself with terror, death and destruction. It has been a day when uncounted numbers of the innocent have perished, and their loved ones have been left to sorrow. Many have been wounded, and this our nation has been seriously injured and insulted….Our hearts are deeply touched, as are those of all Americans and of free people across the world. This has been a tragic, solemn and dark day. We have been reminded that evil is still rampant in the world. Its insidious and dastardly hand has struck again in a most reprehensible manner….But dark as is this hour, there is shining through the heavy overcast of fear and anger the solemn and wonderful image of the Son of God, the Savior of the World, the Prince of Peace, the exemplar of universal love, and it is to Him that we look in these circumstances. It was He who gave His life that all might enjoy eternal life. May the peace of Christ rest upon us and give us comfort and reassurance and, particularly, we plead that He will comfort the hearts of all who mourn.” (President Gordon B. Hinckley, remarks at a memorial service held in the Tabernacle following the World Trade Center disaster, 11 September 2001) All I can say is, AMEN!!
Thanks Sher! I found that photo somewhere on Google images.
BTW, I hope you don’t mind that I added your blog to my “Nebraska Peeps” section. =]
Tracy, thank you so much for sharing your version of what happened in your world on that day.
I’m always curious about what people were doing and how they viewed the events of what was happening.
[[hugs you guys]]
I’ll never forget that day. I was sitting in a computer course at school. I was still just a high school student when 9/11 happened. At the time, I didn’t realize the magnitude of what I was witnessing. I know I felt shocked, surprised, and scared though. I remember one of my teachers saying, “Guys, this is history. This is something your grandchildren are going to be asking you about!”
@Jenna – Thank you for sharing your 9/11 story.
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[...] Where were you on September 11, 2001?? People did not just die on September 11, 2001 Remembering September 11, 2001 [...]