9/11

jorja86

I can't remember if we did this last year or not...

Where were you eleven years ago?

Do you think your life would have turned out any differently if 9/11 had never happened?

Did you do anything special last year for the ten year anniversary?

Have you ever been to ground zero? When?

Have you been to the new tower?

bethsmiles

Where were you eleven years ago?
I was getting ready for school and when I came out of the bathroom I saw it on the T.V. Then I yelled for my parents to come see what was happening.

Do you think your life would have turned out any differently if 9/11 had never happened?
Not in a huge way. My 7th grade history teacher probably wouldn't have had to leave in the middle of the year because he was sent overseas though. That was really upsetting to me because he was my favorite teacher. Also, I had nightmares for months afterwards where I woke up screaming in my sleep but those went away after awhile.

Did you do anything special last year for the ten year anniversary?
Nope.

Have you ever been to ground zero? When?
Nope.

What about the new tower?
What about it? Have I been? No.

Peaseblossom55

I was actually in NYC working that day.  I saw the second plane hit. I got huge puffs of dust and smoke went by my office when the towers fell.  I wasn't too close, but close enough, I was on West 20th St. 

I don't know how life would have been different really.

I did not do anything special for the ten year.  I hate this actually, it bring bad memories.  I actually worry I might have nightmares tonight.  I did shortly after 9/11 quite a bit.

I've never been down there, despite being so close. I wouldn't mind going one of these days though. 

tuarceatha

Where were you eleven years ago?

I was a freshman in college. Attending a school in the middle of nowhere VA.

Do you think your life would have turned out any differently if 9/11 had never happened?

Hm. That is a cool question... I don't think I was directly affected by 9/11... I mean obviously I remember when security was lighter... But I'm thinking of all those folks I know that signed up for the military because of 9/11, or who got a cell phone right after.

Did you do anything special last year for the ten year anniversary?

Nope.

Have you ever been to ground zero? When?

Nope.

Have you been to the new tower?
Nope.

jorja86

Where were you eleven years ago?

I was a sophomore in HS. I was in gym class. This guy was talking about it, and I thought he was stupid and was talking about the car bomb in 1993. I remember so much about that day...like exactly what I was wearing. 

Do you think your life would have turned out any differently if 9/11 had never happened?

I don't know, honestly. I think the whole world is completely different, so who knows what would have changed in my own life.

Did you do anything special last year for the ten year anniversary?

I went to church.

Have you ever been to ground zero? When?

Yes. Once in November 2011, and again the summer of 2004. It was a pretty emotionally charged place both times.

Have you been to the new tower?

I haven't been there, but I've been close enough to see it pretty well. It's pretty impressive. It's also pretty crazy to see in in the skyline where the towers used to be. 

GoldenPenguin

Where were you eleven years ago?
I was a junior in college. I was in bed, trying to will myself to get up to go to my 10 a.m. class. The phone rang, it was my roommate's brother. He yelled to turn on the tv. I did, and the first thing I saw was the second plane hitting the tower. I didn't go to class.

This roommate, her dad was a firefighter in Westchester - his unit was the first one outside of the city to get called in. She was in class all morning, and was the last one of our seven roommates to get back to the room - I got to be the one to tell her that her dad was in the city.

I went to college in Southern Connecticut, not too far from the Long Island Sound. We could see the smoke. The majority of kids at my school were from LI/NYC... I knew several classmates who lost family members.

I remember all of us sitting in our room, and talking about how we could all go to my house in Maine if things started getting worse, because they would never attack up there. Then we found out that the guys who flew the planes into the towers got to Boston by coming through Maine. They stayed at a hotel and got money from an ATM right outside the store at the mall I worked at that summer. That terrified me.

Do you think your life would have turned out any differently if 9/11 had never happened?
I don't think my life, specifically would have turned out differently. I think ALL of us would have different feelings about certain things if it never happened.

Did you do anything special last year for the ten year anniversary?
I didn't personally do anything myself, but we did at work. We had a short announcement that I read over the PA before every home event the week of 9/11, and did a moment of silence after the National Anthem.

Have you ever been to Ground Zero? When?
I haven't. But that's because I'm terrified of NYC. (Not because of 9/11, just in general.)

Have you been to the new tower?
See above.

Hummingbird125

I can't remember if we did this last year or not...

Where were you eleven years ago?

I was just starting my freshman year of high school, and I was in my early childhood education class when I found out about the first plane hitting the tower. My teacher had the AOL.com homepage up on her screen which had a picture of it.

Do you think your life would have turned out any differently if 9/11 had never happened?

I don't think so.

Did you do anything special last year for the ten year anniversary?

Nope.

Have you ever been to ground zero? When?

Yeah - the job I just left was in a building right across from the site. I've walked by hundreds of times.

Have you been to the new tower?

Yup - I think it's really impressive - you can see it from so far away when you're driving down the west side highway!

steign

Where were you eleven years ago?

I was a freshman in high school and I remember waking up and seeing the planes crash in to the tower. Later on that day when I heard about the additional plane crashing in PA, I remember freaking out because I'm originally from there and I was worried about my family.

Do you think your life would have turned out any differently if 9/11 had never happened?

I think in a way it did because a lot of my friends in HS enlisted in the military after they graduated because of 9/11. I had a few older friends who joined the army the year after 9/11 and ended up in Afghanistan for long periods of time. My BF who is older than me and I met much later on, was in the Air force and flew over seas for many years and he can barely talk about it sometimes.

Did you do anything special last year for the ten year anniversary?

Went down to San Fransico to visit my sister and BF went with me. I kept reminding hm  that him serving his country means so much to myself, and all of his because of his bravery.

Have you ever been to ground zero? When?

No but, I visited the memorial in Shanksville, PA in 2006.

Have you been to the new tower?

No

RWS2011

Where were you eleven years ago?

I was at the public library meeting a friend and thought it was weird that they had tvs set up on each floor of the library, with people crowding around them.  I walked over to one and saw replays of the planes hitting the tower.  Maybe it is because I live so many states away, or because it was another horrific image on a tv screen, but while I was shocked and horrified, it almost didn't really sink in until later.

Do you think your life would have turned out any differently if 9/11 had never happened?

I think, in a way, everyone's lives have been dramatical affected by the resulting responses to the event.  I have known numerous people who have enlisted and gone on tours of duty to Iraq, I think it helped to create the current out of control political polarization of the country, Bush executed 2 wars while reducing taxes, helping to launch us into an economic tailspin, jobs are hard to come by, I have known numerous people who have lost their homes.  I think the fallout of these attacks are far-reaching.

Did you do anything special last year for the ten year anniversary?

No. 

Have you ever been to ground zero? When?

No; I have never been to New York, but would really like to go sometime.

Have you been to the new tower?

Same as above... some day I will make it there!

cu97tiger

I was totally thinking about starting this same thread.

Where were you eleven years ago? 

I was living in Richmond, VA. I always went to MSNBC.com in the morning, and it came up really slow. All that loaded was a pic of the first tower that was hit. I told one of CW, who was from Long Island. I kept trying to re-load the page, but it took awhile for it to come up. When it did, the second tower had been hit. I gasped, said that out loud, and my boss said 'We're under attack.' We spent the rest of the day huddled around my bosses little transistor TV watching coverage.

My boyfriend at the time was on a flight from Atlanta to San Diego. All they kept saying on TV was that long-range flights were being targeted. I didn't hear from him until 3pm, at which point I completely lost it. 

Do you think your life would have turned out any differently if 9/11 had never happened? 

I don't think so. 

Did you do anything special last year for the ten year anniversary? 

No. I don't think that just because it's a 'round number' that we need to remember it any more or less.

Have you ever been to ground zero? When? 

Yes. I was there in 2007, and again when we did my bachelorette party in NYC this past December. The first thing we did was go to Ground Zero (kind of a somber start to the weekend).

Have you been to the new tower?
I don't think you can go in it yet, but we've seen it.

jemmini6

Where were you eleven years ago?

I was a freshman in high school.  My dad called while we were getting ready for school to tell us to turn on the news and it took a while for it to sink in what was really happening.  At first I just thought it was a random fire, then I thought it was a small plane like a Cessna, but then I was watching the live coverage when the second plane hit and was like "oh shiiiit, that was not a little plane, or an accident".  Our school basically 'shut down' for the day because in every class we just had the TV on and were watching the coverage. 

Do you think your life would have turned out any differently if 9/11 had never happened?

For me personally, I don't think so, but as a country and even the world, a lot was affected by 9/11, so I can imagine life would be at least somewhat different now.

Did you do anything special last year for the ten year anniversary?

No, other than watching some of the specials on TV.

Have you ever been to ground zero? When?

I was in NYC in '08 and we went by it, but it was all fenced off because they were constructing the memorial.  

Have you been to the new tower?

No, it wasn't finished when I went.

cu97tiger

Also, I watched the MSNBC coverage this morning. They played the Today Show in its entirety from that day. I was struck hard when Jim Miklaszewski apologized for tripping over words. A helicopter had gone by and he said something like 'we're a little wary of any aircraft going over us right now.'

Richmond has a federal reserve building (filled with money, 1 of 12 in the country), so there were fighter jets flying over the city constantly in the days following 9/11. Every time one would fly over, people would duck and look up. It was a scary time.

msuprincess04

Where were you eleven years ago?
Sitting in the day room of the sorority house drinking coffee before heading to class. My first class of the day, national security policy. Then they started reporting a plane hit the first tower, and I saw the second tower get hit.  

Do you think your life would have turned out any differently if 9/11 had never happened?
Yes. I was in Air Force ROTC during that time and I knew everything was going to be different than planned. Shortly after we invaded in March 2002, I had a crisis of concious. How could I possibly send people to war? Be responsible for their lives? How would I handle it when someone died? I grew up a lot during that time. Dedicated myself to our country and our troops and knew this was the right thing. (Of course, in the end it didn't work out for medical reasons, but it was a defining moment for me nonetheless)

Did you do anything special last year for the ten year anniversary?
No, though I currently live in DC, so I have enough constant reminders of that day.

Have you ever been to ground zero? Yes, I moved to NYC on Sept 10, 2003 for an internship with the United Nations. I spent the second annaversary there at Ground Zero watching the memorial. It's very moving.

Have you been to the new tower? Not yet.

K Everdeen12

Where was I:

History class in 10th grade.  Our teacher heard about it right before class, but they hadn't made an announcement yet.  She was really distraught and wasn't really able to concentrate.  A few minutes later, the principal came on the announcements.  He has a terrifyingly deep voice, which really impacted a lot of us for some reason, so for the next 3 school years, whenever he came on in the middle of the day, we always feared the worst.  

Would my life turn out differently:

Hmm I don't think so.  I still moved to NYC, which is what I've always wanted to do.  I didn't know anyone who lost family members and no one very close to me has joined the military, but I do have some family friends/neighbors/acquaintances who did.

Did I do anything special last year:

We watched the specials on the history channel of the building of the memorial and museum because FI had a few appearances (in the background) and he knew a ton of people they interviewed.  We watched the reading of the names as well.  We also avoided the subways or going into Manhattan, not sure if it was intentional or not.

Have I been to Ground Zero:

Yes, in 2008.  FI took me down there since he worked there, and showed me around the construction site.  He was really involved with the musuem and memorial construction, especially with the artifacts going in the museum, up until he left that job earlier this year.  I really hope people pull their ish together to finish the museum.  People worked really hard on making it meaningful for a long time.  /rant.

Have I been to the new tower:

I have not, but I've seen it and have been watching it's progress since I moved here, I suppose.  I somehow have not been to the finished memorial.  But I know a lot about it from FI.  A LOT.  

Peaseblossom55

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_911?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special Topic Wedding BoardsForum:136Discussion:0ef0f371-1747-4547-afc0-1ad63e296149Post:70968687-a813-4caa-ae04-a05fee5f2f32">Re: 9/11</a>:
[QUOTE]Also, I watched the MSNBC coverage this morning. They played the Today Show in its entirety from that day. I was struck hard when Jim Miklaszewski apologized for tripping over words. A helicopter had gone by and he said something like 'we're a little wary of any aircraft going over us right now.' Richmond has a federal reserve building (filled with money, 1 of 12 in the country), so there were fighter jets flying over the city constantly in the days following 9/11. Every time one would fly over, people would duck and look up. It was a scary time.
Posted by cu97tiger[/QUOTE]
Being in NYC it was pretty scary too, there planes around as well.   The whole day was so incredibly eiree. I remember what I wore and I remember it was such a beautiful day weather wise, a bright blue sky without a single cloud. 

jorja86

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_911?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:136Discussion:0ef0f371-1747-4547-afc0-1ad63e296149Post:70968687-a813-4caa-ae04-a05fee5f2f32">Re: 9/11</a>:
[QUOTE]Also, I watched the MSNBC coverage this morning. They played the Today Show in its entirety from that day. I was struck hard when Jim Miklaszewski apologized for tripping over words. A helicopter had gone by and he said something like 'we're a little wary of any aircraft going over us right now.' <strong>Richmond has a federal reserve building (filled with money, 1 of 12 in the country), so there were fighter jets flying over the city constantly in the days following 9/11. Every time one would fly over, people would duck and look up. It was a scary time.</strong>
Posted by cu97tiger[/QUOTE]

<div>Yeah...where I grew up (also where I was on 9/11) is less than a hundred miles from DC, so I remember the jets, too.</div>

Stina51286

Where were you eleven years ago?

Freshman in HS. Sitting in first hour listening to the morning announcements. Part of the announcements was for the teachers to turn the tvs on. We watched the second plane hit.

Do you think your life would have turned out any differently if 9/11 had never happened?

For me, I really do not think so. I agree with what Jem said.

Did you do anything special last year for the ten year anniversary?

No. Nothing different than I do every year. Say an extra prayer for the victims, families, and heros involved.

Have you ever been to ground zero? When?
No, but hopefully some day.

Have you been to the new tower?
No I have not.

Beads921

Where were you eleven years ago? In my 7th grade class. It was the first or second week of the school year. We watched some news coverage on CNN and had a little discussion about it that morning in class, but it didn't mean that much to me.

Do you think your life would have turned out any differently if 9/11 had never happened? Honestly, no, not at all. I'm Canadian, so generally we've been less affected than the US has been.

Did you do anything special last year for the ten year anniversary? No. It's a sad day for my family though as 9/11 also marks the day a family friend passed away suddenly in 2006. I always just take pause and reflect.

Have you ever been to ground zero? When? I was there in...spring 2007 I believe.

Have you been to the new tower? No. I haven't been to NYC since spring 2007, at which point I'm pretty sure construction was just beginning.

tuarceatha

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_not-engaged-yet_911?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:136Discussion:0ef0f371-1747-4547-afc0-1ad63e296149Post:70968687-a813-4caa-ae04-a05fee5f2f32">Re: 9/11</a>:
[QUOTE]Also, I watched the MSNBC coverage this morning. They played the Today Show in its entirety from that day. I was struck hard when Jim Miklaszewski apologized for tripping over words. A helicopter had gone by and he said something like 'we're a little wary of any aircraft going over us right now.' Richmond has a federal reserve building (filled with money, 1 of 12 in the country), so there were fighter jets flying over the city constantly in the days following 9/11. Every time one would fly over, people would duck and look up. It was a scary time.
Posted by cu97tiger[/QUOTE]

oh I remember last year they played a montage of audio records from that day on the radio. I'd be really interested in watching the Today show from that day, but then again I dunno if I'd want to. I haven't wanted to watch any of the movies they have released associated with that day. It is just too sad to sit through.

tuarceatha

p.s. I looked at what we said about 9/11 last year and I think it was on a Sunday. Only Shoes mentioned it in her post about a blog dedication.

ravenray

Where were you eleven years ago?
I was sleeping (West coast) and my dad came in and woke me up and said there was something I needed to see on the TV.  We were never allowed to watch TV in our house.  IN fact my dad shouldn't even have been there.  He was supposed to be on I believe the flight to PA, at the last minute he canceled because today is his birthday.  I remember watching the TV over and over.  I remember most distinctly the women's shoes on the side walk that they left behind to run as the towers crumbled. 

 

Do you think your life would have turned out any differently if 9/11 had never happened?
I think so.  Because everyone was afraid to fly I got to go to DC and Europe, DC 3 weeks after it happed (everything was deserted, we couldn't go up the Washington monument) and Europe 6 months afterwards.  This also had a major impact on our country, while I don't agree with RWS, it did affect how the country was run and the choices we made. 

 

Did you do anything special last year for the ten year anniversary?
I didn't.

 

Have you ever been to ground zero? When?
Nope I have never been to NYC.  I'd like to go though

 

Have you been to the new tower?
See above.

[Deleted User]

Where were you eleven years ago?

I was in HS - Senior year - in Maryland, about an hour from DC. My dad was working at the Pentagon at the time. The school made an announcement I remember watching some of the news footage in class. A few classmates and I sat in the parking lot for an hour listening on the radio together (we had college waiver and got out at lunch)

Many of my friends and classmates lost loved ones or people they knew in the attack. My dad was not there that day, thankfully, but it definitely impacted our entire community.

Do you think your life would have turned out any differently if 9/11 had never happened?

I don't know if my life would really have turned out differently. Going through something like that though...I do think it changes a person's outlook.

Did you do anything special last year for the ten year anniversary?

Not really.

Have you ever been to ground zero? When?

Yes. FI and I went to NYC at Christmas 2 years ago. They were still working on the site, but it was still emotional just being there.

Have you been to the new tower?
No, I haven't.

rusngl2

 Where were you eleven years ago? 

I was a sophmore in college sitting in Economics class downtown DC 3 blocks from the White House. I remember the teacher tried to keep teaching like nothing had happened when the Dean came in and said some colorful things to him about why we were still in class.  It was a nightmare trying to get on the METRO to get to my kids. 

Do you think your life would have turned out any differently if 9/11 had never happened? 

I dont think so, other than I may have visited more islands...

Did you do anything special last year for the ten year anniversary?

Nope

Have you ever been to ground zero?

Nope When?

 Have you been to the new tower?

No, but I have been to the Pentagon memorial site. I drive past it about twice a month 

audrewuh

Eleven years ago I was in 7th grade. I was at lunch (10:30 am Central) when one of the "popular girls" burst into the lunch room in hysterics. Someone said "The World Trade Center has been bombed. Her brother is in NYC and she doesn't know what's happening." I wasn't totally sure what was happening, but I knew it meant a foreign country was attacking us and I was confident it wasn't going to be a big deal. 

I walked into Mrs. Teasdale's math class and sat down. She turned on the tv and we watched the second tower fall. I was in total shock. The scenes of people running, the destruction, the fact that someone would deliberately kill thousands of people... One of the girls in my class started crying and had to go outside. Our teacher turned off tv and started teaching us how to multiply fractions. 

My parents were at my great grandma's funeral in the middle of nowhere Texas. I was one of three students left in my homeroom at the end of the day. 

Do I think my life would have turned out differently if 9/11 had never happened?

I'm not totally sure. I don't know if I would have such a strong sense of loyalty to my country. I also learned a lot about prayer and how to pray through a crisis that year. Between 9/11 and my brother being in jail and my family in turmoil, my prayer life and my faith were challenged and I grew a lot. 

Did I do anything special for the annversary last year?

No, I know we had a moment of silence in worship (because I believe it was a Sunday) but I didn't do anything special.

Have I been to the monument?

No, but that's one of our stops on our HM in April. Same for the new tower. 

minskat30

Where were you eleven years ago?
-Gosh, a lot of you are making me feel old.    I was in my third year of college, graduating that year.  My mom called me crying because I made the decision not to go to NYU for college.  She was sure I would have been interning at one of the businesses there and was so glad I didn't go.  I got an wierd feeling that I had just escaped something. 

Do you think your life would have turned out any differently if 9/11 had never happened? 
-I think 9/11's impact is profound in many ways we can't imagine and has impacted us all in some way.

Did you do anything special last year for the ten year anniversary? 
-I didn't, other than watch the specials and cry a lot.

Have you ever been to ground zero? When? 
-I have not but I've seen it from the air/water.

Have you been to the new tower? 
-I have not.

suzie211

Where were you eleven years ago?

I was in Dubuque, IA at my first real job out of college.  It was a medical supply sales job, but they had sent me for training at their Iowa call center for six months.  I remember taking customer orders as usual, and then customers started to call in just to talk about the plane crash.  I didn't think commercial jet liner when the first customer said plane crash, and was picturing a small engine plane.  I couldn't figure out why it was such a big deal, until tvs were wheeled in to watch the rest.  I immediately called my then bf to turn on the tv and contact his sister in NY.   His brother-in-law has meetings in the area of the towers all the time, and actually was stuck on the subway for hours nearby during the initial attack.

My worst memory came about 7 days after, when the girl sitting in the cube next to me bolts and heads to the break room in hysterics.  She had just placed an order for the state of NY for thousands of body bags.  We already knew that thousands had perished, but it made it all too real in that moment.

Do you think your life would have turned out any differently if 9/11 had never happened?
Not really. 

Did you do anything special last year for the ten year anniversary?

No.  I watch the specials when they come on and cry a lot.  Its sad to see how many innocent lives were destroyed by two seperate government agendas.

Have you ever been to ground zero? When?

My sister summered with the NY Stock Exchange in 2005 and we spent a morning at the site. 

Have you been to the new tower?
No, but I would love to go and see the new tower and the memorial fountains.  When I saw it last it was still a gaping hole, and a very sad reminder of the horrors that happened. 

Smooch711

Where were you eleven years ago? I was a junior in college. I woke up to my alarm, and went into the "common room" where my roommate was. She had been exercising, and then switched to TV with the news. I continued to shower and go to class at 10. We briefly talked about it in class, but then continued with Spanish. I later went to my 1 p.m. class. Our professor still didn't know anything (as he was in class that morning) and he made no comment about it and taught class as scheduled. That was a philosophy class too. My parents were in Baltimore at Johns Hopkins. I was a little worried trying to reach them. But they were fine. The rest of the day/evening my roommates and I just kept watching all the news we could get. Do you think your life would have turned out any differently if 9/11 had never happened?  Personally, I don't think so, but like many have already said, the world changed then. Things aren't exactly the way they were before. Did you do anything special last year for the ten year anniversary?  No. Have you ever been to ground zero? When?  No. Have you been to the new tower?  No.

peekaboo2011

Where were you eleven years ago?

I was in algebra class.  My teacher left for 5 minutes, came back and everyone went about their day, but a lot of kids got pulled out of school.

The superintendent of our county made the decision that kids couldn't find out from teachers - parents' needed to tell them.  So, we weren't allowed to know.  If they had told us, since so many students' parents worked in the Pentagon, it would have caused mass panic.

My brother was in the hospital watching it on live TV.  He's 4 years younger than I am, and that was really hard for him.  He still struggles with people flying.

My mom was supposed to be in the pentagon that day as well.  She was in the hospital with my brother waiting for the orthopedist.

Do you think your life would have turned out any differently if 9/11 had never happened?
Not really.  

Did you do anything special last year for the ten year anniversary?

Not 9/11 related.  It's still really hard for me to deal with - we had a lot of friends and family who were supposed to be in their offices where the plane went through that day, and didn't make it to work or got dragged over to another building for a meeting.  It still terrifies me how close we came.

However, last year on 9/11 I broke up with ex-FI douchenozzle.

Have you ever been to ground zero? When?

Not really.  I've been close a couple times, but we couldn't get up to it due to construction last time.  I have been to the Pentagon memorial.

Have you been to the new tower?
No. But, again, I've been to the Pentagon memorial.  It's incredibly powerful.

JBSMADA10

Where were you eleven years ago?

- I was in eighth grade american history class watching live feed fox news.

Do you think your life would have turned out any differently if 9/11 had never happened?

- I don't think I would be such a STRONG supporter of the troops. My brother is very patriotic, and I remember him calling our mom that day saying he was going to help do something. He reenlisted the next day. And has been in the US Army ever since. He is currently deployed now.

Did you do anything special last year for the ten year anniversary?

- Sadly I didn't do much other then light a candle and pray.

Have you ever been to ground zero? When?

- I've always wanted to go, hopefully when JB is old enough we can explain to him what happened, why his Uncle Chad has such a cool job and why we live each day to the fullest.

Have you been to the new tower?

- Like I said before, I really want to go in the next few years.

catrb89

Where were you eleven years ago?
My 7th grade religion class.

Do you think your life would have turned out any differently if 9/11 had never happened?
Yes. 9/11 was the first time I realized that the world wasn't fair. That was very hard to swallow as a child, and it lead to frequent nightmares about the attacks. It was also a catalyst for the deep depression that I fell into as a teenager.
My father was also in NY during the attacks and I worried endlessly until he got home.

Did you do anything special last year for the ten year anniversary?
I watched a lot of footage. Too much footage. Ended up having an anxiety attack late into the night.

I wrote a letter to the NYPD after the attacks happened. A police officer called me at home and told me how much it meant to him. When I graduated from college, he came out to dinner with my family and I. So that was something special to me.

Have you ever been to ground zero? When?

Yes. About 1.5 years ago, I went to visit the site.

Have you been to the new tower?
The tower was still covered and under construction but we saw the memorial at the site.

thejucheidea

Where were you eleven years ago? We had just finished morning assembly and I was in AP English. A girl who was always late to class was late again, but when she showed up, she told our teacher that all of the teachers needed to go to the meeting room for their respective buildings. After he left, she told us that a plane had hit one of the World Trade buildings, but she seemed to think that it was something like a private jet, not a commercial aircraft. We were told to go back to assembly and they told us what happened. We didn't actually have class for the rest of the day; everyone just stood around watching the television. The weirdest thing for me was the fact that there were no planes going over campus that day, as my high school campus was right under one of the main routes for the Nashville airport.

Do you think your life would have turned out any differently if 9/11 had never happened? No.

Did you do anything special last year for the ten year anniversary? No.

Have you ever been to ground zero? When? Yes. I went in 2002 when I was up in NYC with my choir in high school. I went a couple of times when I was in college in Vermont because I would go down to NYC every now and then to go somewhere besides Albany (ugh). We went back in April as well, but we weren't able to go to the memorial because we hadn't made a reservation to be allowed in. Next time that we go to NYC, we'll most likely go to the memorial park.

Have you been to the new tower? In the same general area. We were really close to it when we were wandering around downtown trying to figure out where Ground Zero was -- I got all mixed up because it had been like six years since I was last in NYC, so we wandered around for a bit until I got my bearings. Here's a pic that I took when we were on a harbor tour earlier that day: