Where Were You?

I remember hearing my mom say that she could remember where she was when she heard JFK was shot, or where she was when she heard Elvis died.

So where were you on September 11, 2001? It was the day before Sammie's 2nd birthday, and I was standing in my bedroom in front of the television with nothing on but a towel. At the time, we lived in South Weber, Utah, and I had just gotten out of the shower--getting ready for daycare kids to come. Right as I was climbing out of the shower, the phone rang. My mother-in-law was on the other end and told me to turn on the TV. At this point the first plane had hit, and there was some confusion as to what was going on. About five minutes after turning on the TV, the second plane hit the second tower. It was then that talks of it being a terrorist attack unfolded.

Tom was in Sierra Vista, AZ, where he was based back in the day. I called the "crash pad" to wake him up and have him turn on the TV as well. By this time the towers were collapsing.

I was glued to the TV in disbelief, but I had daycare kids to look after and two flooring guys coming to replace some of the wood in the entry that had been damaged during a previous storm. I watched on and off throughout the day in shock as the dust and smoke rose in the blue sky. I watched as the FAA shut down the whole air system. All flights were grounded, which meant Tom was stuck in Sierra Vista. I watched so many people screaming and crying. I remember the news replaying over and over clips of people jumping to their death from the towers.

By that night, I was in shock and scared; you see, I'm a worrier by nature, and this whole day was like something out of a movie. I just wanted Tom home with us. Since he couldn't just hop the next flight home, Tom and another pilot, Kyle, and Kyle's wife and baby, rented one of the last cars and headed north--Tom to South Weber, and the others on to Boise. I think he made it about 5:00 the next morning.

September 11th is a day that will forever be etched in my memory. So where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?