Where were you... - Curtains are Open

I was sitting in front of Regis and Kelly…my children napping quietly…when the emergency broadcast came on to tell of the horrible plane crash. I immediately thought of my friend who’d died on the Air India flight several years before.

The broadcast came back on and I was momentarily lost in thought…something was horribly wrong. Regis and Kelly were to be cut off again…a second “crash”…and a soon to be attack on the Pentagon.

I stared at the TV in panic. Though I was no where close to what was going on in New York…my world was being destroyed.

I phoned my then husband who was “on the road” working…frantically trying to explain what I was seeing on the television…begging him to come home. I could hear his business partner on the phone sitting next to him in the car, as his wife was relaying the same story. There were desperate calls coming from everywhere. Our lives were forever changed. Our comfort and safety…gone.

I stared at the TV for days…holding my children closer…keeping them safe from harm. The images are forever in my mind…it would never be the same…

Where were you when the world changed?

4 Replies to “Where were you…”

Driving to HFX-Got a phone call from our son just as we were going through Montreal-we just drove on all day without stopping,listening to the radio and crying.The strangest thing was there was hardly any traffic-everyone was glued to a tv set somewhere.The most unforgettable trip ever.

I had an eye and ear appointment for my twin boys for 9am, so in the hospital, I never knew anything happened, until I left and heard it on the radio in the car. I thought it was a joke, at first, then dropped into the grocery store for a few things in case it was real, and the boys, about 5 years old, came and said that a woman gave them a chocolate bar, was it ok to have it. People were talking on their cell phones, and saying, things like, I can't believe it. My sister lived in Brooklyn at the time, and my heart was pounding. Many people I knew in NY, policemen, relatives, neices, and nephews….I drove home,thank God there was a message on my machine from my sister, saying, in a nervous voice, "we're under a terrorist attack, I'm fine, and so are Al and the kids, not to worry, she would be in touch. Then not being able to contact my sister, the lines were crazy..couldn't get through. It was horrific, also as time went on, I found out a friend of mine was in one of the planes that went into one of the towers. I will never forget, or understand why, and how it could have happened.

I was at work when a friend called me to say she heard there'd been some kind of bombing in the U.S. I went around the different cubicles looking for another worker who might know something. Then I came upon a solitary sole, an introvert. I said: "did you hear anything about a bomb going off in the U.S.?" He said: "it wasn't a bomb. Have a look." He showed me his monitor. There were planes flying into the twin towers. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. But what surprised me even more was that this man was sitting alone watching this and didn't tell anyone else that it was happening! I thought that very strange. But all of us have our own way of reacting to a crisis. For the rest of us in that office, once we heard, it was like we HAD to talk to others. We needed the comfort of others. We wanted to feel safe.

I'm old enough to remember when President John F. Kennedy was shot. Anyone my age or older knows where they were when they got that news also.

I remember watching the whole thing explode right before my eyes. Went outside to talk to neighbours and met one of mine who we just had dinner with that weekend. Her husband is a Muslin and she was so concerned because he had to travel back by train. My sister was to go to a party that evening. It was cancelled because the guy who was giving the party was distressed. He was suppose to travel to N.Y. that day but sent one of his employees instead. He didn't make it back. My other sister was watching the news. The company she worked for was filming a commercial right when it happened in perfect view of one of the towers coming down and she caught it on the news. I remember thinking how strange … what are the chances of all of this happening … and now this is even stranger. I also knew someone on the Air India flight. She worked for the Toronto Star and had trained me as her replacement. Her name was the first one of the list when I read the story in the paper. We are all so connected in life and in death. Lesa

Anonymous on September 11, 2010 at 8:50 pm said:

Driving to HFX-Got a phone call from our son just as we were going through Montreal-we just drove on all day without stopping,listening to the radio and crying.The strangest thing was there was hardly any traffic-everyone was glued to a tv set somewhere.The most unforgettable trip ever.
a life touched on September 13, 2010 at 2:41 am said:

I had an eye and ear appointment for my twin boys for 9am, so in the hospital, I never knew anything happened, until I left and heard it on the radio in the car. I thought it was a joke, at first, then dropped into the grocery store for a few things in case it was real, and the boys, about 5 years old, came and said that a woman gave them a chocolate bar, was it ok to have it. People were talking on their cell phones, and saying, things like, I can't believe it. My sister lived in Brooklyn at the time, and my heart was pounding. Many people I knew in NY, policemen, relatives, neices, and nephews….I drove home,thank God there was a message on my machine from my sister, saying, in a nervous voice, "we're under a terrorist attack, I'm fine, and so are Al and the kids, not to worry, she would be in touch. Then not being able to contact my sister, the lines were crazy..couldn't get through. It was horrific, also as time went on, I found out a friend of mine was in one of the planes that went into one of the towers. I will never forget, or understand why, and how it could have happened.
Brenda on September 14, 2010 at 7:01 pm said:

I was at work when a friend called me to say she heard there'd been some kind of bombing in the U.S. I went around the different cubicles looking for another worker who might know something. Then I came upon a solitary sole, an introvert. I said: "did you hear anything about a bomb going off in the U.S.?" He said: "it wasn't a bomb. Have a look." He showed me his monitor. There were planes flying into the twin towers. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. But what surprised me even more was that this man was sitting alone watching this and didn't tell anyone else that it was happening! I thought that very strange. But all of us have our own way of reacting to a crisis. For the rest of us in that office, once we heard, it was like we HAD to talk to others. We needed the comfort of others. We wanted to feel safe.

I'm old enough to remember when President John F. Kennedy was shot. Anyone my age or older knows where they were when they got that news also.
Think Art on September 11, 2012 at 1:12 pm said:

I remember watching the whole thing explode right before my eyes. Went outside to talk to neighbours and met one of mine who we just had dinner with that weekend. Her husband is a Muslin and she was so concerned because he had to travel back by train. My sister was to go to a party that evening. It was cancelled because the guy who was giving the party was distressed. He was suppose to travel to N.Y. that day but sent one of his employees instead. He didn't make it back. My other sister was watching the news. The company she worked for was filming a commercial right when it happened in perfect view of one of the towers coming down and she caught it on the news. I remember thinking how strange … what are the chances of all of this happening … and now this is even stranger. I also knew someone on the Air India flight. She worked for the Toronto Star and had trained me as her replacement. Her name was the first one of the list when I read the story in the paper. We are all so connected in life and in death. Lesa