North America

Where were you? What were you doing, and who were you with? Are you doing something special still today to show your support for the lives lost on 9/11 or those due to?

Let's just share our stories. It would be interesting to get the international view on it, too.

~Jessi~
Blessed Be

I remember when I heard about it I was living in Palmerston North. I was watching TV in bed and the news clip of the plane crashing into one of the buildings came on. It seemed like that one clip was played hundreds of times in the next few days.
At the time it was hard to process that this had really happened, I think it stunned everyone I knew, and despite the fact that we were in another country entirely there was just this feeling of horror, and sickness with grief for all the people involved, everyone who lost a life, everyone who lost a loved one, the entire country even, because everyone was effected. I think it really did have a global effect.
They had a memorial type thing the day after at the polytechnic I was studying at, I think pretty much everyone went to it.

http://vyanae.blogspot.com/

I remember hearing people talk about major historical events where they could remember exactly what they were doing even after decades had passed. No matter who I talk to 9/11 seems to be one of those events for everyone. I remember vividly getting up that morning and walking up the steps of our deck and seeing the images of the twin towers burning on the TV.

I've read a couple tributes to 9/11 on blogs that I read but this one on Motherhood is Not for Wimps really struck me.

No Excuses. Just Write.
SoCNoC - Freeing the Flame
Freeing the Flame - 30,065/40,000 words rewritten for May

My husband is usually up first, and got me out of bed to watch the news. Don't usually watch TV first thing in the morning. We were stunned also, just so hard to believe, it was like watching a movie, it didn't seem real.
Pulled myself away from the TV to go to Polytech at 9 o'clock, I was doing a social services course. We were all sensitive, caring sort of people, and the vibes were very strong in the classroom. We tried to pay attention, but we were all feeling down.
Finally the tutor said, "What's the matter with you lot this morning?"
I said "We are in shock!" She did not know about it, and then we all babbled at once to get it out. She said, "Right time out, I can't teach you like this, go out and have a smoke break for a while, and talk about it among yourselves." Which we did, and it helped. Someone mentioned a name Osama Bin Ladin, and I had never heard of him.
We were sent home early, and watched more on the telly.

Got a plot and Title for Socnoc 2008.
"To Be Or Not To Be: That Is The Question."

Books are Humanity in Print!

I was in sixth grade...sitting in my class dreading the ISTEP (standardized testing crap) that was to come, and another girl came in late to class (once again, it was--and still is--a regular thing for her) and tried to interrupt our teacher talking to another teacher. Of course, she got yelled at and when she finally got to tell the teacher everyone in the class had heard of it. "Terrorists?" I thought to myself...I had never heard of such a thing, I lived a sheltered life until middle school. But when the teacher turned on the TV I got the jist...just like everyone else.

We went outside while the teachers talked about whether or not to go on with the ISTEP or not...we did, since they probably figured we didn't really understand the depth of the situation. "You're lucky you're too young to understand how horrible this is," I remember my teacher saying. "You're very lucky."

It kinda puts me in a mood to realize now that he was right...and now I see the magnitude and how it still effects (or affects, I don't know) us today.

Has anyone seen ground zero now? I saw it last summer...

It was weird, standing near the place where they fell. I'll always remember them falling. I was (lucky/unlucky) enough to see that on TV when it happened.

~Jessi~
Blessed Be

I was in 4th grade. I didn't know that anything had happened until I got out to my mom's car and my sister asked if my mom and I knew what had happened. My sister's teacher had turned on the TV and let the class watch what had happened. My teacher had wanted to let my class be happy for a little while longer, I guess.

I was working on the proof of one of my poems all the morning, and took out a comma. In the afternoon I put if back again.
-Oscar Wilde-