[Currency Pair Crocodile]

I might be attending Sunday mass in Manhattan this Sunday.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by JayCT

A friend of mine is one of the people on the list. It brings tears to my eyes seeing his name there. He was the son of my parents best friends and a person I looked up to growing up. They never found his remains. His death there caused tremendous pain for his family. Wonderful people who did not deserve it. He left a wife, young daughter, mother, sick father, sisters and a brother-in-law.

That day I was getting out of my car for a meeting when the security guard pulled up and said a plane just hit the World Trade Center. Going into the meeting I mentioned this to others there. Toward the end of the meeting my boss left to see what was going on. He came back and said it was VERY serious. My stomach sank.

I went to a nearby office and listened to the news. I knew my friend worked there but he traveled a lot. I was hoping he was away. I decided to head home instead of going back to the office. I called his mother. She answered the phone crying, said she talked to him last night and he was going to be there for a meeting and she and her husband were all alone. I immediately called my family and told them to get over there which they did. My wife and I watched the news in horror. We picked the kids up early and told them what happened. They were young but I think they knew how bad it was. The next several weeks were bad waiting for any news of my friend. There was nothing. A couple of months later, the family held a memorial service. It was so sad. Jay

Sorry to hear this. That is what my friend went through when they learned her brother was there. He had actually just started with the company he worked for and went in early to learn a few things.

How did you tell your kids? I'm struggling with at what age I should start to tell them. Perhaps I should let them learn at school, and bring it up then.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by Antlered Chamataka

I might be attending Sunday mass in Manhattan this Sunday.

I plan on attending mass at my church in Branford.

[MikefromCT]

I was in Cali w/my best friend on vacation. On 9/10 we left LA for San Diego where we were staying at my uncle's villa. Early next morning he wakes me up going "Mike, get out here. You will not believe what's going on." So I walk into the living room with the aerial shots of lower Manhattan on TV and he goes "World Trade Center in New York? It's gone." I screamed "What do you mean it's gone!?!?" When my friend woke up and walked downstairs I told him we were under attack and we watched coverage for the next few hours. Even then it still didn't fully register what happened. Long story short, because of this we couldn't fly back to the east coast and Amtrak was booked for a month. So we drove back.

It's so wierd to think 9/11 provided the backdrop for a cross-country trip but it was an amazing experience. We spent that weekend in Las Vegas where it was like 9/11 never happened - which is irritating to anyone who was there or at least closer to the city. But the sights we saw - the scenery of Utah and Colorado, the great plains of Kansas, downtown St. Louis (where we visited the Gateway Arch and saw a game at the old Busch Stadium), etc - and the people we met (who were very friendly) made it worthwhile, even though it was amid a national tragedy. And truth be told, it wasn't until we drove cross country that we realized just how immense this country is in terms of space. We kept hearing about how these Muslim extremists wanted to bring down America. In order for them to do that they'd have to kill every last one of us and this country is just too damn big and too resiliant to let that happen.

I dropped off my friend in Baltimore to his house on the night of 9/20 then drove back to CT the next morning. I took 95 the whole way and as I got closer to NYC the reality of what happened started to set in more and more. I got back to my parents' house that night, just in time for baseball to resume in New York where they did a memorial at Shea Stadium.

The journey back east was unforgettable, but I felt relieved to be back home. I never want to sit through an atrocity like that again. The aftermath and paranoia that developed in the next few months only made things even more unsettling. Going to New York with my friends about six weeks later (a week before that plane crashed in The Rockaways) was surreal. When you got to Grand Central you saw in the aisles these murals filled with photos of missing persons, with phone numbers attached to them asking for calls if anyone was found (and in some cases they were, some alive). Walking around Central Park that day was a strange experience. Everyone was still on edge at that point, but there was something in the air that just had everyone in a different state of mind, I can't explain. My favorite city had changed - the skyline was now different and so was the mood of the people in it.

Everyone has their story about where they were that day, that's mine.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by kidyankee764

Sorry to hear this. That is what my friend went through when they learned her brother was there. He had actually just started with the company he worked for and went in early to learn a few things.

How did you tell your kids? I'm struggling with at what age I should start to tell them. Perhaps I should let them learn at school, and bring it up then.

They knew something was up when they were picked up early. We told them something bad happened and explained it to them. Then we told them about our friend being there. My older son asked if he was alright. I said we do not know. We let them watch the news coverage and see the images. They seem to remember it. Jay

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by MikefromCT

It's so wierd to think 9/11 provided the backdrop for a cross-country trip but it was an amazing experience.

IMO, that's a very appropriate time to see the country.

[JViello]

Was in my office (Owned a dotcom tech firm) and heard the news about the first plane and thought "that's odd".

My #1 Steve came in to the office and said "a second hit". I knew it wasn't an accident then. I called everyone and said "stay home". Steve and I went over to my house close by and put on the TV.

I then got a text by a good friend who worked across from the WTC is basically said "We are under attack, pray for us". My gut sank.

He then texted me (I was the only one he could get ahold of for some reason) Please call "Candi [his wife] and tell her I love her".

I made the call, and she didn't hear anything about the attacks and thought it was a radio prank. I finally had to say "CANDI, THIS IS JAY...TURN ON THE TV OR RADIO". She responded with "OMG...Is Chris okay?" So I spent the morning relaying messages to her from Chris and being on the phone with a step-brother who lived in Midtown.

I was on the phone with my bro when the first tower came down. I literally went from standing...to my knees...to my forehead on the floor.

I later just broke into tears when they scrolled the victims names and age across the screen and I saw children on the planes. Now being a dad, it still bring a tear to my eye.

The one thing I'll never forget, was seeing our President - love him or hate him, start to choke up on TV when talking about the children and families who were victims and fight it back.


9/13/01 News Coverage: Emotional Moment for George Bush - YouTube

[davwve]

I was a sophomore at Michigan and watched the tragedy on TV. My current employer lost an employee that day. Its overwhelming hearing the stories of survivors, rescue workers and families of the lost first hand.

[Uconn97]

Remembering Roberty Higley Jr and his family...God Bless.

[kidyankee764]

Originally Posted by JViello

I later just broke into tears when they scrolled the victims names and age across the screen and I saw children on the planes. Now being a dad, it still bring a tear to my eye.

Same here. I went to my parents house in New Canaan that afternoon because I just wanted to see them. I watched in shock the replaying of the day's events on TV. I was numb and didn't really have much emotion. When I got in the car to drive back to Greenwich, I drove by Talmadge Hill and noticed the lot still had about 15-20 cars in it. I thought it was odd, so I went to the Old Greenwich station - same thing. Cos Cob same thing. I hopped on the highway to drive a little because I needed to get away from the news. It was the first time I cried in a long time.