Where were you on September 11th?

It's one of those questions our children and grandchildren will ask every year. Where were you on the day we were attacked, where were you on 9/11, and where were you when those planes hit the towers.

On September 11th, 2001 I had just started my 2nd week of Junior year in high school. I woke up like I did every morning at 5:55am, walked into the living room to make some coffee and found my mom already sitting there with the news on. She asked "Did you see this? Some idiot hit a building with a plane." The first plane had hit the World Trade Center at 8:46am EST, only 5:46am California time. We made a few jokes about "How can they not miss something the size of a building" not fully understanding the severity of the situation. ABC news kept playing replays of the first crash. Finally I got up and said "I wish they'd stop playing replays, I'm gettin tired of watching that" just as I got up to poor a cup of coffee the news caster states "This is not a replay! A 2nd plane has just hit the World Trade Center in New York City!" At 6:03am (9:03EST) I still don't think it had really sunk in, I mean I was more confused then anything. I never thought it was possible for US to be attacked, so that just never crossed my mind. I asked what the chances of 2 people hitting the towers were... My mom had no answer. We sat there for the next 30 minutes watching the news casters replay those images that have forever been burned into our minds... People jumping from the building, people standing in disbelief... My mom and I sat there until 6:37am (9:37EST) until the news reported "We are now getting reports in that the pentagon has been hit" it wasn't until then that I realized our country was under attack. I just remember feeling numb, not really scared, but just in shock... We sat in disbelief as the news casters reported there was possibly a plane headed for the White House and as those words left his mouth, the first tower fell at 6:59am (9:59EST). My mom and I sat there in silence till the 2nd tower fell at 7:28am (10:28EST) and we finally got word that there may have been a related plane crash in Pennsylvania 20 minutes prior (Flight 93). My mom and I sat there in shock for nearly 45 minutes... Watching people run from the smoke clouds... First responders pull bodies out of the rubble... Watching people weep in shock.

Finally, I had no choice, it was 8:15, class had started 15 minutes ago, I finally got up, showered and got ready for school. My mom had called in sick from work because she didn't know what else to do. I was over an hour late for school, as were most students. I just remember sitting in our classes watching the news coverage, talking about what happened. Later in the day we were pulled into the chapel (I went to a privet school) and we prayed and watched more reported news coverage until around 1pm and they finally just sent us home (school wasn't scheduled to end till 2:33).

Driving home from school, I remember seeing people standing on every street corner waving American flags and holding signs saying things like "Honk for the USA". It's the little things like that I wish I had a camera for. It's something I'll always remember, but can never fully describe to someone else without a picture.