Skip to main content

Tuesday, September 11, 2001 -- Where were you?

by Paula Neal Mooney

Fairfield, California.

I turn on the TV.

Is that the Sears Tower with smoke billowing out of it?

No, those are the twin towers.

My Rottie pukes on the carpet, delaying my husband from driving down to his job in San Rafael, five miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Katie Couric talked to NBC's Pentagon correspondent, Jim Miklaszewski, as he heard a rumbling.

"I don't want to alarm anybody right now, but apparently it felt just a few moments ago like there was an explosion here at the Pentagon," he said.

"We're going to war. A plane hit the Pentagon. Don't go to work," I urged my husband. "They might hit the Golden Gate Bridge."

He stood in our great room, cleaning the light beige carpet, trying to take in what was happening.

We learned of United 93 going down in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

"Don't go to work," I pleaded. "There might be a fifth plane."

He stayed home.

I watched the reports all day, stupefied, woke up in the middle of the night and watched the news and nursed my baby and held him close.

Where were you on Tuesday, September 11, 2001?

Comments

jhuber7672 said…
In a hotel room in Peabody, Mass., traveling that week for business. Saw the 2nd plane hit while watching NBC. Although I was traveling with colleagues within my industry, still felt very alone, scared and confused. We traveled to our next destination, stayed glued to our hotel room TVs and held our event that night. Amazingly, 65 people showed up yet it was a somber, strange evening. Getting home to Fla. at the end of the week is another tale.
Anonymous said…
I was in the middle of a job interview. as usual it went not that well...
Paris David said…
Jennifer -

I'm glad you put your picture up. I like it; it gives me a touchstone.

I can't imagine what it took to get back to Tallahassee during those strange days.

Maurizio -
I'm sorry your job interview didn't go well.

Thank you for commenting, though.

It's good to learn the perspective of the 9/11 attack from international readers...
5xmom.com said…
I live across the globe and it was 8 pm at my place. I saw the 2nd plane hitting the tower on CNN. I was pregnant with my #4 son and days after that, we hope so much for survivors. BTW, this is an emo period for me because I had a premature baby on 24th September and he passed away 7 mths later. I named him Vincent 'cos of the St. Vincent hospital where they took the victims to. May God grants strength to the survivors and gives us wisdom to comprehend this tragedy.
Jim.Legington said…
Paula that is a great question,

I Remember being at home that morning and just finished making a pot of coffee when my brother
Charles called and ask if I had the TV on, He said turn it on because a plane just crashed
into a tower at World Trade Center in New York.

So I turn on CNN and at that time most everyone suspected this to be a horrible accident. While in the midst of trying to gather some details from the News, here comes this second plane right there before my own eyes watching the News the second plane crashes into the second tower.

Immediately I think we all begin to understand we were being attacked on our home front in the earth. United States of America - Home of the Brave. Blessed be the Name of the Lord.

For this was just the start of the horrible things that followed with the pancake collaspe of the structures, another plane crashing into the Pentagon and great heroes aboard Flight 93 that illustrated the meaning of bravery with 343 Fire Fighters and Everyone that gave there life in this Never to Be Forgotten Incident of terror in the midst of mankind. Let God's Love Prevail in our heart. Mark 12:28-34, John 17:17-21 Psalm 9:11
May the humble be blessed always!

May God bless the many souls who lost their lives, on September 11, 2001, at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and on airline flights 11, 175, 77, & 93. We love You all! September 11 News-Source from May God bless!
Lisa R Charles said…
In my parents home, in the kitchen cooking breakfast. I was pregnant with my third, so when I rushed in to the family room I had to take a seat. Couldn't believe my eyes!! My hubby and I sat there speechless, didn't know if this was really happening.

We watched my Father sit also in silence, as he watched the place where he used to go to work everyday crumble to the ground. I remember like it was just yesterday.
Paris David said…
Lilian -

I'm so sorry to hear about your loss of your baby boy soon after the tragedy. Your own personal tragedy...

May God help you and continue to help you thru the grief.

Vincent is a nice name -- especially now that you say it was based on St. Vincent hospital.

I always hold on to the hope of that photo of the cross that stood among the ruins on September 11th.

It's like the Lord saying He's still holding our hands when there is destruction all around us.

Jim -
Thank you, as always, for the wisdom in Word of God.

And I appreciate your other email,too, and for always keeping in touch.

Lisa
Wow...I can't imagine your dad watching a building he worked in like that.

After the events, I watched the HBO (I think) special of the firefighters and priest who were in the twin towers -- and all of them who went up in that building to save lives without a selfish regard for their own.

May they all rest in peace with Jesus now...
Anonymous said…
we will never forget. i was on my way to the office. i stop at my brothers house and just watched tv all day.
Anonymous said…
I remember it like it was yesterday I left my house on one of the clearest september morning ever! I could see the towers from Jersey I noticed this b/c it's rare you can see them from my house but when i got to work my Manager the big boss said they said a plane hit the towers oh don't worry it was a small plane. But I was late and he was too and then we turned on the radio and the tv from work.... it was a sad day
TD said…
Las Vegas of all places. When we woke up and saw this on our hotel room screens it didn't seem real. I remember walking through the casino and feeling something strange in the air. A very eerie day.

We were on the first flight out of Vegas to Seattle.
Stephanie said…
I was in the hall of my highschool on my way to second period. As I entered the room my math teacher had the news on and I watched in horror as the second plane hit!
Anonymous said…
I was at home watching tv when this happened. It was crazy to see.
Anonymous said…
We were watching a local TV in India, and up came the flash news and the images. Shocking, we were panicked. "If this could happen to America, god save the world!" - we thought.
ctdweller said…
Yes, I remember 9/11 vividly when it happened. I immediately smsed husband and told him this could be the start of WW3. I felt he too was a little afraid..Shocking and unbelievable that something like this could happen to a country touted as THE most powerful.
Anonymous said…
Remember and nerver forget!
kystorms said…
wow, Paula.... for me this memory never ever leaves, its a scar I will carry for the rest of my life......and yet so full of hopeful memories too.
I was in the livingroom of my home in Richmond Kentucky with my children. My oldest three had just gone of to school, my youngest were home, as I home school them. I was watching the morning news, as I always do. It had until that day been a bit of back ground noise to my day. I recall ABC going to a live reporter who was saying that a plane might have hit the building, and a small time later before my eyes, the second plane ran through the second tower like it was a hot knife through butter. I recall screaming, and I recall being so scared. I was alone, my husband away to work, my older children miles away in school. And just a few short miles away, the Blue Grass Army Depot - home to multitudes of various death chemicals. The local news reported early on that a plane was heading in our direction, and I knew from my training at school that I had such a few short moments to make my home protected before the chemicals would make it to us :-(
That day was full of hate, pain, and misery from end to end. But... also memories, from Enya playing on the radio , to people crying and hugging each other in gas lines. To neighbors forgetting old wars, and turning into the people they always were inside, full of love and caring.
I hope we never forget that day, and I thank God he was with us then as He is now.
I will never forget , NEVER.
God Bless You and all your readers.
Derrick said…
When the first one hit I was in my car listening to NPR on my way to work.

By the time I got parked and made it up the the 11th floor, the second one had just hit. A bunch of us went up stairs to the confrence room to look at it on television. I couldn't believe the stupid news people were still questioning if it was intentional or not.

After a couple of minutes I went back down to my desk and commenced to spending the whole day on message boards talking about it.
Jamie Boyle said…
I was at work and one of my co-workers came up to me and said " a plane just hit the Pentagon" I was like what? We all went up stairs and everyone was in awww. It was like the whole world stopped on that day to observe the horrible thing that has happened. My heart goes out to all the loved ones that were lost on this day 6 years ago.

Popular posts from this blog

Paula's List of Blogger Salaries...Are you on the list?

Update: For those who continue to enjoy this post, check out my website about 50 real online people making more than $50k per year , and my page where I update my online salary . UPDATE: Before you read any further or especially link to this old list, please check out "Paula's New List of Blogger Salaries (and Webmasters, Affiliate Marketers, Content Scrapers, Domainers and any other title you can think of) June 2007" by clicking here! ~ Thanks, PAULA NEAL MOONEY by Paula Neal Mooney One of my favorite features in Parade magazine is the issue where they grab a random sampling of people and report their incomes -- from the millionaires to the working poor. Since I'm fascinated with how much money bloggers and webmasters are making nowadays, I've created a similar list -- a random sampling of people making money on the net. Who's on Paula's List of Blogger and Webmaster Salaries? I spent hours and hours scouring the internet for the last-reporte

Paula's New List of Blogger Salaries (and Webmasters, Affiliate Marketers, Content Scrapers, Domainers and any other title you can think of) June 2007

FIND OUT HOW MUCH BLOGGERS REALLY MAKE ONLINE -- CHECK OUT THIS NEW WEBSITE ABOUT MONEY-MAKING ONLINE CALLED 50 OVER $50K... by Paula Neal Mooney The time has come. The time is now. Paula N. Mooney will you please publish that list now?! (Yes, I fancy Dr. Seuss' iambic pentameter.) My WebMaster blest me with a viral post called "Paula's List of Blogger Salaries," and the response was so wonderful, here lies an update. It's bigger and better than ever before with more pics, and double the amount of bloggers, webmasters, domainers, affiliate marketers (or a smidgen of some or all of those titles) and their reported incomes. How Much Do You Make? Money is funny. The abundance of it, the lack of it, the subject of cash in general gets attention. While some invoke their choice not to post their online income nor discuss it at all, I've always been of the Suze Orman mindset ever since I read her first book. Suze encourages people to talk ab

Digg.com's Autobury Secret Blacklist...Are you still being banned by automatic burying?

UPDATE: PLEASE CLICK THIS LINK TO DIGG THIS STORY AND TELL DIGG TO PLAY FAIR... by Paula Neal Mooney Many of us know the power of Digg.com, dreamed up by Kevin Rose, who touted it as a "user driven" site that says it allows the general public to determine the stories they want to see make it to the front page by voting for interesting articles they find across the web. The more votes the public gives an article, the better chance it should have to make it to the front page. Theoretically... The power of Digg's front page Digg.com -- according to Alexa -- is now more popular than The New York Times. Getting one of your articles or blog posts to the front page of Digg.com will get your website seen by plenty of eyes. John Chow experienced a one-day traffic record of 55,856 page views when one of his posts hit the front page of Digg. Digg Bans Domains...then Supposedly Unbans Them One day, Digg banned me -- I'm still not clear why. I found out they banned a whole bun