I still vividly remember 9/11. It’s hard to believe it has been nine years. I was in DC and at my desk earlier than usual for a conference call. My boss came down the hall and told us a plane had hit the World Trade Center. The TVs were switched on and everyone was standing around watching assuming it was just some kind of accident. Until it happened again.
Then the Pentagon was hit.
One co-worker’s wife was on a plane that morning. Fortunately, it was not one of the four. They grounded her plane somewhere mid-flight. I can’t imagine what he must have been going through while he was waiting to hear from her. Not knowing.
Another co-worker’s best friend (best man at his wedding) worked in the towers. We would learn later that he didn’t make it. I always think of that co-worker and his friend on this day.
In addition to the towers and the Pentagon, there were also false reports of a car bomb at the State Department and a fire at the Mall, which made it feel like we were in some kind of war zone. The city was being evacuated as we all learned there was the missing fourth plane that was supposedly looking for the White House or Capitol. This was just three blocks from where I stood in disbelief at what was happening. It was even closer to my then fiancé, now husband, who worked across the street from the Capitol.
People fled the city. We were told to stay put. I was pretty much paralyzed with fear anyway, so I did. When I dove home that day at about 1 pm, no one — I mean no one –was outside. No cars, no people. It was beyond eerie.
As I drove across the bridge from DC to Virginia, I slowed the car. I opened my sunroof and held up my camera to take a picture. (I happened to have it with me because I was supposed to have dinner with friends to celebrate my upcoming nuptials).
In the center of the bridge you can see some smoke - that's from the Pentagon.
I could see the smoke and smell the fire. The fear and anxiety kicked up a notch in that moment. With a lump in my throat, I sped away for home.
I sat on the floor in our condo trying to process it. I stared and stared at the TV. Sometimes I was watching it, and sometimes I was just lost in thought. In disbelief.
Where were you?
I took this post 9-11 photo on the way into work one day.
We lived in FL at the time and Adam called me at work to say the darndest thing just happened…a plane actually crashed into one of the towers. As I asked “big plane, small craft?” he screamed that another one was hitting.
We have family in both DC and NY and I remember thinking, after the second tower, that DC was next. And to watch it all unfold on this little black and white, all we had at the office, was just beyond words. How terrible that day was, waiting to hear from all family members and wondering what was next- when it would really end.
Thanks for your story and helping us remember. Back then we all said “Never forget” and now blogs and people like you keep us remembering.
Thanks for sharing your story, Jennifer. I watched the documentary footage on the History Channel last night. Well, some of it. I kept thinking – there’s no director there that’s getting ready to yell “Cut!” It was surreal even last night knowing it has been nine years.
Thanks for the story. It’s scary how vivid our memories are of that day. I often wonder if our memories will remain just as vivid as the years pass?
I was at the gym (on the elliptical) when the second plane hit the tower (I was watching the news so I saw it happen). I drove home (which was less than a mile from the Pentagon) in disbelief and listening to news radio. As I walked from my car to the front of my building, the plane that hit the Pentagon flew just over my head and just barely missed my apartment building. When the plane hit the Pentagon, the ground, the glass in my apartment building, and the man hole I was walking over shook. I wasn’t sure what had been hit; but, I knew the plane had crashed into something. A delivery truck drove by and the driver told me something hit the Pentagon.
I knew there was another plane in the air, so I couldn’t bring myself to go into my apartment building. I was afraid the next plane might hit my building on the way down. It was a terrifying experience.
To my knowledge, I did not personally know anyone who lost their life that day. But, I knew several people who worked at the Pentagon and the WTC, and a professor at my law school was on one of the planes. Being around DC was eerie for several weeks following 9/11. The lack of air traffic was particularly weird!
I was supposed to fly several days later – but, my dad begged me to drive instead. I obliged him!
And, ever since 9/11, I really don’t listen to anything but news/talk radio in the car. I miss music in the car sometimes – but, I also like to know what is going on in the world around me!
That’s so creepy you saw the plane fly over. It wrenches my gut to think about those people on the plane with knowledge of impending death. Not that it’s any better for people on the ground, but at least there was no time to rationalize the terror. Horrible, the whole thing is just beyond horrible. There really aren’t words.
Thanks for sharing your story.
I was at work, in NY. As soon as I heard about the first plane crash, I immediately called my in-laws. I had 2 immediate family members on active duty in the Military. My 2nd thought was that I was currently on the top floor of the tallest building in the town where I worked. Being that most of my accounts were in Manhattan and the greater NYC area, it was an eerie quiet day at the office as all cell phone lines were jammed.
You nailed it. Quiet. That’s the perfect way to describe the day following the attacks. I forgot about the phone lines being jammed. You are totally right. I remember having a hard time getting ahold of my mom that day.
For a while after 9/11 my heart would race every time I heard an aircraft fly overhead.
And we got married 9/22 and then went on our honey moon and few from DC to NY – where we were photographed and in the paper going through airport luggage check run by miliary men with guns.
We flew into NY. Also freaky for me. And then from there to Milan.
In case you missed this one — here’s how bad a flyer I am.
http://themommyhood.wordpress.com/2010/02/24/fly-me-to-vegas-by-way-of-the-nutty-farm/