Where Were You?

There are certain moments you just never forget where you were when they occurred.  I'm not talking about the obvious things like your marriage and/or the birth of your children.  I mean news events.  For instance, I have already mentioned in a previous post where I was when the Challenger space shuttle exploded.  Likewise, I'm sure my parents and everyone from that generation can vividly tell you where they were when they heard that King and Kennedy (and maybe even Malcolm X) had been assassinated.

So as far as life-altering moments go, I very distinctly remember where I was when I heard about the planes hitting the towers.  I had just dropped off Elijah and Mariah at school since I was living in Cedar Rapids at the time, working as a field claims rep.  On my way back to my in-home office, I was listening to 99.7 FM.  They talked about the first plane rather cavalier as they didn't fully know what happened.  Initially, it made a little sense just listening to the scenario that  it wasn't that bad.  Maybe a plane went too low and hit one of the towers accidentally?  I mean they are rather large so wasn't it bound to happen sooner or later, right?

Once I got home I started working my normal claims with the tv on and slowly got more details.  That's when I started to realize the full magnitude of what was happening.  I also recall trying to go to CNN.com to get even more information.  The site was so swamped with hits that it's the first time I have EVER seen it lock up and not respond.

Long story short, on the tenth year commemoration of the tragedy, I  can safely say that it is one moment in my life that I will never forget.  We can put the blame on as many different people as we want as to why it happened and it still won't change the fact that the surreal became a reality.  An attack on American soil.  I'm certain it won't be the last, but now I will never forget where I was when the first significant one occurred during my lifetime.

Comments

[cbean]

I was at work. We had the radios on when they were talking about the towers being hit. When they mentioned the Pentagon, it become personal. My best friend from 9th grade was there and I wasn't for sure whether she was dead or alive. I left the job to go home and get her phone number. I don't remember if I had a cell phone or not. But anyway the receptionist lived around the corner from me and she had forgotten her purse at home, so she gave me her key and asked me to pick it up on the way home. Well after getting the number at my house, I was standing in her kitchen with her purse in my hand when her husband walked in the door. Good thing we had already met. With arms in the air, I hurridly explained why I was in his kitchen. He just laughed and said he had left work to get more coverage at home. It took me almost four hours to get in touch with my BFF, but when I did, her voice was music to my ears. I reach out to her every 9/11. Matter of fact, we just got off the phone. We were BFFs before the term ever came into existence.