It's 9/11

[angelashly]

I did the same thing.

I can still remember this day like it was yesterday and I too hope our children don't have this kind of event.

[sterling]

God, it was such an insane time. There are only a few of those moments in US history we can point to as it’s happening and know the world just completely changed. To be 17 years old and a witness to it, I think the implications somehow went way over my head and smacked me in the face all at once.

I was thinking the other day, 95% of kids in school right now we’re born into a post 9/11 world, which is hard to wrap my head around.

[sterling]

Sept 11, 2018 7:38:21 GMT -6 HilarityEnsued said:

I'm v emotional at my desk and it's awkward. Next time I'm going to have set a calendar reminder to get my boohoos out before I get to work.

I mean, if ever there is a day/reason to be emotional this is it.

[sterling]

And the line that you can draw from 9/11 to xenophobia to polarized politics to Trump. I mean, Jesus, it’s everything those motherfuckers who did it could have wished for. And it makes me furious.

[Deleted]

I live near-ish to the Pentagon. My dad works there. He wasn’t there that day because he was on terminal leave as he was retiring from the Marine Corps. The weeks after we’re scary for us because there was a possibility he wouldn’t be allowed to retire. Luckily, he was allowed to but I’ll be honest when I say him still working in the Pentagon makes me nervous. And my husband is a volunteer firefighter. I went to the 9/11 Museum a few weeks ago and seeing/hearing the firefighters’ stories really hit me. Those men and women were so brave. I truly cannot imagine running into a building that’s just been struck by a plane, running up so many fights of stairs, and likely knowing that you wouldn’t be coming out.

I would highly recommend the Museum in NY, the Pentagon Memorial in Arlington, and the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville to anyone and everyone. They’re all so different from each other and all so well done. Every victim of that day deserves remembrance.

[imapenguin]

I was just watching the live feed of all the names being read and family members speaking.

[allisong]

I do the same every year too. I still vividly remember walking up the stairs to, ironically, history class and hearing people yelling out that our country was being attacked and everyone was freaking out. I remember staring at the TV the entire day, our teachers trying to make sense of it in order to find the right words to say. I remember flipping out because my aunt was in NYC for work and I had no clue if she was okay. She was, thankfully. I think of the families who lost loved ones in a way that I can’t even fathom and I pray that our children never have to endure something like this and only have to read about it in a textbook.

[microworm]

Sept 11, 2018 7:42:43 GMT -6 sterling said:

God, it was such an insane time. There are only a few of those moments in US history we can point to as it’s happening and know the world just completely changed. To be 17 years old and a witness to it, I think the implications somehow went way over my head and smacked me in the face all at once.

I was thinking the other day, 95% of kids in school right now we’re born into a post 9/11 world, which is hard to wrap my head around.

I was thinking, those newborns that lost parents are now graduating high school. Seems so long ago, yet almost like yesterday in some ways.

[ladybrienne]

I remember sitting outside the grocery store with a friend of mine later that day. We are in PA, a little outside Philly in the suburbs. We were waiting for her Mom inside and we just were sitting there silent. Then we heard a plane, and everyone in the parking lot stopped and looked up. It was surreal. At that point all air traffic had been suspended so we assumed it was military or government. It was just a very strange, uneasy feeling. That moment always stuck with me, along with the other emotions of that day.

[charlotte]

I realized yesterday and thought “oh.”, like I couldn’t believe that this day of all days could just sneak up on me.

I have seen this many times before but it never fails to make me ugly cry, including this AM when a friend posted it on Facebook. Spoilering in case it’s huge or someone doesn’t want to cry right at this moment.

SPOILER: Click to show

[Deleted]

Wow, charlotte. That took my breathe away, and I’m crying. Thank goodness I’m just at home.

[sterling]

Joining the crying at my desk cohort.

[Deleted]

I always get a sinking feeling in my stomach on this day, and I can conjure up vivid memories of what I saw on the news that day so easily, it gets intense. Definitely a defining moment for our generation @hilarityensudes.

[beepers]

Same thing happened to me today when I looked at the calendar. My FB feed is a wide range of posts. From people posting remembrances, to one posting how she’s flying first class on vacation today, and an apple orchard posting “fun facts about Apple Cider”.

It made me think how older generations must have felt on anniversaries of days that defined them, like D-day or Pearl Harbor.

I don’t think I will ever have a Sept 11 on which I don’t cry.

[marygracerich]

I’m watching the names being read. I am usually at work so I have never watched it live before.

I remember this day completely. I remember the panic at my school. I remember seeing the smoke from outside of my school. I was a senior in HS. I remember calling my stepmom in a panic because my dad works near there. I remember watching teachers and students crying in the hallways. So many kids had parents that worked in the towers or were first responders. I remember the quiet afterwards. It was so eerie.

I worry about MH during this time. He was in the national guard then. He was activated and sent to manhattan to do security at the site of the towers. He remembers the smell and the smoke. He remembers walking silent Manhattan streets and train stations armed with large guns. He didn’t think he would ever have to do that. He was then deployed to Iraq afterwards and he has some bad nights from ptsd.

[Deleted]

I asked DS1 if they said anything in school about it (1st grade) and he says he had no idea what I was talking about. Its so ingrained in my memory that I just assumed they would say something at an age appropraire level about it.

We have quite a few firefighter friends who went to aid in the rescue efforts that I always wonder if they will be a statistic someday with all of the lingering effects that still exist.

And I have to say I was almost angry at the news this morning. I know that the trade centers lost the most lives that day but the coverage seems to have forgotten about the pentagon and the flight that crashed in PA. They deserve to be remembered too and their families lost just as much that day.

[Deleted]

That spoiler upthread gave me chills. I spent some time this morning talking to D1 about what this day means, in case her teacher brings it up. For some reason it was important to me that I be the one to explain what it means.

[allthedrinks]

I visited the Jersey City memorial on my way to work this morning. Sitting in my office bawling.

[angelashly]

Sept 11, 2018 8:01:00 GMT -6 kbw said:

I asked DS1 if they said anything in school about it (1st grade) and he says he had no idea what I was talking about. Its so ingrained in my memory that I just assumed they would say something at an age appropraire level about it.

We have quite a few firefighter friends who went to aid in the rescue efforts that I always wonder if they will be a statistic someday with all of the lingering effects that still exist.

And I have to say I was almost angry at the news this morning. I know that the trade centers lost the most lives that day but the coverage seems to have forgotten about the pentagon and the flight that crashed in PA. They deserve to be remembered too and their families lost just as much that day.

dd's teacher talked about it last year in first, but not a lot. 

I am expecting more questions this year.

[beepers]

Sept 11, 2018 8:07:13 GMT -6 HilarityEnsued said:

I talked to my oldest a little bit about what this day means and what happened. He doesn't really get it which, as a parent, is probably what you want for your 6 year old.

My niece was 6 or 7 I think on 9/11 one year. She saw the footage on tv and asked “did that really happen?” My sister told her yes and hugged her tight. Of course she didn’t understand everything. MH was deployed at the time. Things that sneak up like that are the worst.

[Minerva]

I’m here, remembering. That day was so surreal and terrifying. I was a freshman in college and spent hours trying to reach my parents b/ the phone lines in NYS were jammed. My gram was in the air that morning flying out of JFK and I needed to know she was safe. All of those emotions and the horror of watching the planes hitting the towers and the towers collapsing are seared on my brain. So many lives were lost and everything changed that day.

[veganontuesdays]

Sept 11, 2018 8:04:01 GMT -6 HilarityEnsued said:

lort that voicemail is fucking me up.

+1 fucking me right up

[veganontuesdays]

I was in 7th grade and even at such a young age I remember slightly "understanding" the impact and severity of the event. Thinking about something like that happening while I am 30 and can FULLY understand and process it in real time almost brings me to my knees. Today is also my mom's bday. She always has lots of feels and we have a good crying session about the lives lost and then we take emotional space to celebrate her life.

[Deleted]

I just remembered something. I was working for a call center at the time. I remember 9/11 was a Monday, our busiest day of the week. I walked into the office and was struck by how quiet it was. There were literally zero calls holding. Whenever the phone did ring, we were jolted out of our stunned and shocked selves. We maybe took 20 calls that day.
But what I just remembered is that our city is relatively close to a nuclear power plant (within 50 miles) and we were really worried that they were going to start targeting them at some point.

[nymama917]

I wasn't in NY when this happened but since I've been here a while now I know so many people who were personally affected. I remember the day perfectly and how terrible I felt from Ohio, but being here makes it all different. I just can't imagine living through that. Thank you to all those who served and are serving to keep this great country safe and the families who hold it all together while they do it. I have all the feels today because as I walked through Penn Station it was lined with so much extra security in full bullet proof and guns and they were listening to some sort of memorial on their radios where I could hear through the static "The North Tower fell". So emotional today.

[gimmeaQ]

We have tried to explain it to SD without a lot of success. We’ve even taken her to the memorial. It’s just difficult for her to understand.

She has said they’ve touched on it in school but I think the deep dive is upcoming in US history. I’ll be interested to see what, if anything, they do today.

[allisong]

Sept 11, 2018 8:32:56 GMT -6 @darlene said:

I just remembered something. I was working for a call center at the time. I remember 9/11 was a Monday, our busiest day of the week. I walked into the office and was struck by how quiet it was. There were literally zero calls holding. Whenever the phone did ring, we were jolted out of our stunned and shocked selves. We maybe took 20 calls that day.
But what I just remembered is that our city is relatively close to a nuclear power plant (within 50 miles) and we were really worried that they were going to start targeting them at some point.

Omg I remember the fear of this too...

[elodin]

It still feels like yesterday. I watched the second plane hit while sitting in stunned silence in Spanish class. It seemed unreal. I live next to a major military base and see the impacts of that day daily.

[sterling]

Sept 11, 2018 8:40:11 GMT -6 allisong said:

Sept 11, 2018 8:32:56 GMT -6 @darlene said:

I just remembered something. I was working for a call center at the time. I remember 9/11 was a Monday, our busiest day of the week. I walked into the office and was struck by how quiet it was. There were literally zero calls holding. Whenever the phone did ring, we were jolted out of our stunned and shocked selves. We maybe took 20 calls that day.
But what I just remembered is that our city is relatively close to a nuclear power plant (within 50 miles) and we were really worried that they were going to start targeting them at some point.

Omg I remember the fear of this too...

I was off at college but Chicago was home. I remember wondering if my city was next, and trying to imagine the horror New Yorkers felt as this amazing city landmark crumbled before their eyes. I’ve never fully shaken that feeling.

[gingy]

I was in 6th grade. We were running late that day and wouldn’t have seen the news if we’d been on time. We watched the second tower hit before my dad panicked and got us in the car for school. In our small private school, we were pretty sheltered and none of us could fathom this being done on purpose.

DH was a senior in HS. It’s the reason he enlisted. I can’t imagine making that decision, and I’m grateful for the men and women like him every day.