https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 17 May 2026 14:10:56 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911/page/2#post-1858049 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 12:42:44 +0000 lamariniere 1858049@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I had a strange experience. I had just arrived in Paris for my junior year abroad and my French was not very good. I remember hearing "New York" and "Washington DC" over and over on the radio when I was in a few stores, but I couldn't understand anything. A few hours after the attacks I was at an Internet cafe checking my email and I had messages from a friend in NYC and my brother who was a freshman in Washington DC, and that's how I learned about it. I sat at the computer and read as much news as I could and cried. I didn't have a TV, so I never saw any of the news reports or videos until a year later when I was back in the US on the first anniversary of the attacks. It was shocking for me to see the replays of the clips since it was the first time I had seen them. I don't think there was much internet video back then. I felt like everyone but me had already seen the biggest blockbuster movie. But also since I lived that whole year in a different country, I was very surprised at the change in the US when I returned. France was definitely a very supportive nation to the US and there was heightened security in Paris for months, but since it didn't directly affect the city, it wasn't on the forefront of daily life after a few months. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911/page/2#post-1857970 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 12:14:13 +0000 wonderstruck 1857970@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was still in middle school, and I remember another teacher coming into our room to tell ours what was happening after the first plane hit. We pretty much spent the rest of the day watching the news. I was young enough to still be pretty naive about what a huge impact this would have on our country. That changed as details about the terrorists came out and much of the country started acting fearful of Muslims and showing hatred for them. I'm grew up right next to the city in the US with the highest proportion of Arab Americans, so I've seen too many friends and their families become the victims of hate crimes. You wouldn't believe the things people will say and do to an innocent young teenage girl because she happens to be wearing a hijab. It's all just awful - on this day I have trouble not going back to the stories of all those who were lost on 9/11 and just crying for the terror they must have felt in their last moments of life, and for their families to have lost someone in such a traumatic way. And all of the ugliness and hate that has gone on since then on both sides...it still feels so raw at times. I wish we could just wipe evil from the world. I wish it was that simple. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911/page/2#post-1857950 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 12:03:07 +0000 MrsSCB 1857950@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was in my second week of high school, and my school is just a few miles from the Pentagon. I remember I was running the mile in gym class and thinking what a beautiful day it was. Then one of my classmates, who arrived late because of a doctor's appointment, told us what had happened. We spent the rest of the day in shock, watching TV, unable to comprehend what was happening so close to where we were sitting. There were so many rumors going around that more planes would head for DC, where both my parents worked, so I was really scared for them. They basically had to walk home from work, although my dad eventually had a cab driver stop to pick him up. My dad told him he didn't have any cash on him and the driver said, "Get in, don't worry about it," and drove him home. One of my classmates' dad was on the plane that hit the Pentagon and my now-MIL was working in the Pentagon, though thankfully was on the other side of the building. My school bus drove past the Pentagon every day and it was hard to see the destruction. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911/page/2#post-1857939 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 11:54:36 +0000 babynumber1 1857939@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was a freshman in college at the time. We had only been in school about 2 weeks, so everything was still really new. I had classes all morning. I remember walking between classes and hearing a guy on the pay phone saying that all of the airports were shut down. I thought I just misheard it. I finally got to my 12 o'clock class and heard the news. Class was dismissed and I spend the rest of the day in my friends dorm room watching the coverage. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911#post-1857920 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 11:46:20 +0000 Baby Boy Mom 1857920@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was in high school and all classes were pretty much canceled so that we could watch the news. A few people from our town were on the airplanes. This is the first year I've been back in the area since then and I find myself affected much more profoundly. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911#post-1857895 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 11:23:36 +0000 petunia354 1857895@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was in the hospital with some kidney issues but would normally have been at school, I was a sophomore at the time. I was able to watch all the coverage which was a blessing and a curse.</p> <p>DH was immediately activated (national guard) to guard West Point, the sub base and our nuclear plant in CT. He ended up deploying 4 years later...</p> <p>Peace to all those who perished and the loved ones who they left behind. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911#post-1857888 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 11:20:00 +0000 sunny 1857888@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was doing an internship and people around me started saying "go look at the news" but CNN, CBC, all the usual news sites were slammed and nobody could get through. I remember finally being able to get through on Sky News. My mom called me to tell me, but the situation hadn't really sunk in yet and I didn't really want to talk to her at the time. I felt bad about it later on. I remember Toronto being panicked because we didn't know who was being targeted yet. Many of my friends working in downtown Toronto were sent home that day. We were in the suburbs so we stayed at work.</p> <p>I remember wanting to watch the broadcast at lunch, but one of my coworkers didn't want to and made me eat lunch with her away from the TV. I remember being annoyed and rushed back after lunch to see if there were any new developments. </p> <p>Even though I didn't know anyone personally, I still remember it vividly and teared up a little bit this morning when they were talking about it on NPR. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911#post-1857862 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 11:01:58 +0000 mrsjazz 1857862@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Honestly, this is the first 9/11 that I don't want to think about where I was or that day in particular. Maybe it's because I no longer work in Manhattan and see the Freedom Tower every morning. This morning I did think about how the city as a whole came together to support each other after 9/11 and I wish we could have that sense of community and togetherness without tragedy. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911#post-1857833 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 10:43:13 +0000 MrsMccarthy 1857833@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was working for a Media company just across from the Empire state building so we had a clear view of the events and were sending people out to the field. I was the receptionist and really just wanted to go home and be safe. I didn't like being close to a monument like that. Some of the people were getting very excited which really made me sick to my stomach because they were more thinking of this as an opportunity than all of the lives that were lost. I will never forget seeing the missing signs all over NYC. Peoples mothers, husbands, sons, daughters pictures with pleas for any information about their whereabouts. It tore me apart inside. I will also never forget the smell of the ash that was all around. A guy i was seeing at the time lived very near the site and when i went to visit him a couple of weeks after it happened i was stunned. I am so grateful to all of those who risked or lost their lives that day and so sad for the losses of so many. I will definitely never forget this day. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911#post-1857799 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 10:22:13 +0000 Honeydew 1857799@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was just getting to work in Chicago. My co-workers were all buzzing about the first plane hitting the WTC. We turned on the radio and about 5 minutes after we turned it on the announcement of the second plane hit. Panic set in the announcer's voice. Since we were close to the Sears tower, it was advised that we all go home. The city had a mass exodus, everyone was speculating that Chicago could possibly be next.</p> <p>My roommate and I were both on the couch watching the horror unfold on the TV the rest of the day. Afterwards, we had heard that an acquaintance of ours was a flight attendant on one of the American Airlines flights that struck one of the towers.</p> <p>Such a scary day, I could only imagine what it was like in NYC. I was in NYC about 2 months afterwards and everyone was in shock, but it seemed like there was a sense of community/patriotism/togetherness. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911#post-1857798 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 10:22:05 +0000 Smurfette 1857798@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was working, first job after college, and we wheeled an old TV out in the main area (really small office) and were glued to the TV all day. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911#post-1857787 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 10:17:32 +0000 BSB 1857787@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>High school... senior year. I was in history class. My math teacher came in and told us to turn on the tv. I have a horrible memory but I will never forget where I was that day. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911#post-1857769 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 10:09:33 +0000 MrsKoala 1857769@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was a sophomore in college at a pep rally when the president stopped it to tell us what happened. All we knew was that we were "attacked". It was terrifying. I had an international relations class later that day and all we did was talk about it. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911#post-1857684 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 09:29:08 +0000 mrs. wagon 1857684@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was in my dorm room at college. We didn't have a TV. My dad called me and we turned on the radio. It was the day after Parents Weekend at my school (Boston College) and several of my classmates lost parents on the flights... one lost both parents.</p> <p>My dad worked in downtown Boston and everyone was evacuating all the buildings. My brother worked in NYC and we couldn't get in touch with him until around 5pm. He had walked all day to get home (to New Jersey) and was covered head to toe in ash. It was terrifying not knowing where he was, but no one could get through on the phone to anyone. He lost several friends that day.</p> <p>One of my close friends (who is having my kids in his wedding in October!) worked in one of the buildings, and I was IMing with him the whole time. He just happened to be in Jersey attending a training session that day. His whole team got out safely but his office was on a floor above where the planes hit. He spent the entire day thinking his entire team was dead.</p> <p>I still haven't shed a single tear about it.. it's too overwhelming and I don't allow myself to feel anything about it. Almost selfishly. I'm still in the anger stage. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911#post-1857682 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 09:28:09 +0000 namaste 1857682@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was in middle school. We were just making our way to second period when teachers were told to bring televisions into the classrooms. We were all watching when the second plane hit. :( We spent the rest of the day watching the news and having a special assembly in the gym. I remember quite a few students had relatives working in the WTC and they were very worried. It was all very surreal. </p> <p>The next day was there a special worship service and attendance was really low. There were probably about 50% of the students in school that day. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911#post-1857678 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 09:26:50 +0000 ballerinabee 1857678@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was living and working in Boston, in the car stuck in traffic, listening to Howard Stern (of all things!) when the first plane hit. He could see it from his radio station, and was joking about how a plane could possibly go so wrong as to hit a building that big. Then the second plane hit and there was a moment of silence and he said something along the lines of "this can't be an accident, this is deliberate". I changed to NPR and then flipped back and forth (Howard was talking about what he could see) all the way to work. </p> <p>No one I worked with knew when I walked into the my office, so I told people and we went in a conference room and turned the tv on. I got a call from my boyfriend at the time who was in Hong Kong (he ended up stuck there an extra week), wanting to know what was going on. I was on the phone with him when the towers fell. </p> <p>We had fighter jets flying by our windows (I was on the 12th floor of our building, and they scrambled jets to patrol Boston, not knowing what else might be coming and where). We couldn't stop watching the coverage, even though it was gut wrenching.</p> <p>I lost a college friend when the towers collapsed. He worked for Cantor Fitzgerald, who lost all of their employees save the one who had taken the morning off to see a child off to school. </p> <p>Today is also my DH's birthday. It's tough every year to balance remembering my friend and all the others lost in such a horrible act of terrorism, and celebrating his birthday. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911#post-1857671 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 09:21:43 +0000 Andrea 1857671@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I worked across the street from the WTC so it impacted me and my co-workers very deeply. I still remember everything vividly, especially the heat of the explosions. It took us a long time to heal emotionally, but everyone I knew was safe, thank goodness. We will never forget. :heart: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911#post-1857650 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 09:11:11 +0000 .twist. 1857650@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was in middle school. Watching the news while my mom blow dried her hair as she got ready in the morning (funny the details you remember). I remember thinking and even saying that a plane hit a building in NY and how it must be fake. Then the second one hit and I made my mom come into the room. </p> <p>So sorry to everyone who experienced it first hand and those who have lost someone. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911#post-1857645 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 09:07:36 +0000 looch 1857645@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mrs. Lemon-Lime: The city was "closed," basically. You could get out, but all bridges, tunnels, ferries, etc were not allowing people in, unless you were emergency workers. So, I had to go to South Jersey with my boyfriend at the time. I had no clothes, nothing, just what I was wearing and the malls actually were closing so I couldn't even buy anything.</p> <p>I lived in the UWS at the time, and it was very strange when I finally did go back. People didn't really know what to do, there were bomb threats every night. The military was everywhere, there were fully armed servicepeople at pretty much every subway entrance and streetcorner. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911#post-1857641 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 09:05:04 +0000 regberadaisy 1857641@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was a sophomore away at college. When I heard the news I immediately tried to call my family in NYC. I couldn't reach anyone and I was so scared. I later found out my sil who was pregnant with my niece at the time was on the subway. They stopped service and all the passengers had to walk through the tunnels to get above ground. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911#post-1857640 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 09:03:48 +0000 Mrs. Lemon-Lime 1857640@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: wow. Where did you go for the three days? What was the rest of the city like away from Ground Zero? </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911#post-1857629 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 08:56:23 +0000 Shutterbug 1857629@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@looch: :heart: </p> <p>I was a freshman in college in New England. I had just moved in a week before. I was young and naive and had never heard the name "Osama Bin Laden" before that day. At first I didn't understand the gravity of the events of that day, and a few friends and I tried to go to the mall since classes were canceled and we were surprised that it was closed. </p> <p>My roommate's mom was a flight attendant for American, and her normal route was BOS-LAX. She spent the day crying, in bed, trying desperately to get a hold of her mom. When she finally did, her mom was in LA, thankfully.</p> <p>I've talked to my parents about it more recently, and they said all they wanted to do was come to my school ASAP when it happened. They had just dropped their first baby off at college a week prior, and then the whole world falls apart. I can only imagine how much harder it must have been for new college freshmen in NYC, because making sense of it all in a new situation with no one but strangers was hard enough for me, and I was 200 miles away. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911#post-1857628 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 08:56:12 +0000 Mae 1857628@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was a senior in HS. During spanish class the german teacher came over and told us to turn on the news, they had been watching and saw the news of the first crash. At first we thought it was a bad accident but every teacher kept the TV on all day. During Humanities we saw the second plane hit and knew it wasn't an accident. I remember lots of people crying and being scared, and a friend of mine sitting in the phone booth crying all day trying to reach someone she knew who worked in the towers. After school I had to go to work as a cashier at the grocery store. The lines were insane and we sold out of water and non perishables. On the way home I needed gas but all the gas stations had lines that were hundreds of yards long so I risked just heading home without it. </p> <p>I remember being sad for the lives that were lost, but I thought people were being a bit ridiculous in terms of the buying stuff and getting gas (in Ohio). My parents are the type that always have faith that things will be fine, combined with my age, I just never really felt like there was any chance that the government wouldn't contain the problem quickly and that we'd all be fine. I think if it happened now I would be a lot more scared. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911#post-1857627 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 08:55:22 +0000 avivoca 1857627@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was a junior in high school. We were getting ready to change classes when a teacher from across the hall came in screaming that a plane had flown into the World Trade Center. For the rest of the day, we did nothing but listen to the news on TV and on the radio. I had one teacher that tried to go on with her lesson but none of us were paying attention. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911#post-1857623 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 08:49:45 +0000 T-Mom 1857623@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was at a client site in MA and was in the caf getting some breakfast when it came on the news. I spent the morning trying to get in touch with friends in NY which was pointless because phone service was completely unavailable. I still can't believe what happened and all the lives that were lost. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911#post-1857621 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 08:49:15 +0000 yerpie110 1857621@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was a freshman at college in NYC. Our campus was uptown, but we could see the smoke from the towers from our windows on the top floors. I remember ever moment of that day still - the fear, the absolute chaos, the unknown, the resilience, the support... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911#post-1857617 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 08:47:21 +0000 Caly 1857617@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was in college...my brother told me a plane had flown into one of the towers. I honestly thought he must be mistaken or that it was a small private plane. I was late to my class because I was watching the footage &amp; by the time I arrived the class was being dismissed because of possible threat to our area. We have a huge military presence in our area and because of this know a ton of people in the military...one fear many of us had was possible war and people we know being deployed, which did happen. I think about it often, it's pretty seared into my memory. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911#post-1857612 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 08:42:47 +0000 looch 1857612@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I watched the towers fall from the parking lot of my office building, I was unable to return to my apartment for three days. I will never forget the smell of the city when I was finally able to return.</p> <p>But these are small things compared to the people that lost loved ones. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911#post-1857606 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 08:41:20 +0000 MamaG 1857606@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was working and running late for work that day as I was have a conversation learning about two good friends having an affair (sigh!). Then on the way to work my check engine light came on. It felt like the day couldn't get any worse, little did I know. I lived in the Midwest at the time and most people couldn't relate to what was happening. But two years prior I had been in NYC staying at the WTC Marriott and laid on a bench in the courtyard outside looking up to the tops of the towers. I very much could relate as I had been in that exact spot for about a month while working in NYC. </p> <p>I was also working on my masters and had about a 50 mile commute after work to school. I remember the highways being very empty and the sky too. And everytime I was on a straight stretch all I could think about is how it could be an emergency landing strip for the planes that weren't flying.</p> <p>The company I worked for also had a Wall Street office at the time, I was so anxious to learn if each person had made it home safely that day. I knew they weren't directly impacted by being in the towers, but the efforts to get home were nothing short of horrendous.</p> <p>Today, I walked out of my house to a huge arching rainbow, I found it fitting for today. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/remembering-911#post-1857599 Thu, 11 Sep 2014 08:37:11 +0000 mrsjyw 1857599@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I was a senior in high school, 2nd period ap english class. Saw everything happen on the tvs.... that hour is forever ingrained in my memory. Such a tragedy. </p> <p>RIP to those lost lives...</p> <p>Peace to their families...</p> <p>:heart: </p>