I was skipping class on 9/11. My mother had called me to tell me to turn on the news. All I could do was cry, it was the most horrific thing that I had ever seen or heard of. I never in a million years would have thought something like that could happen in the U.S.

I was sitting at my desk having my morning coffee and bagel when I noticed papers flying around outside my 49th Floor office window. I work in downtown Manhattan about four blocks south of the World Trade Center and I remember wondering whether there was some sort of ticker tape parade going on as I watched papers flying around outside the windows. As I headed over to another window which faces Ground Zero, I saw the first tower in flames. All I kept asking myself was how those people above the fire would escape. Within minutes, a large shadow casted over my building and I noticed an airplane heading straight for the second tower. As I watched the plane slam into the second tower, I immediately ran back to my desk, grabbed my belongings, and headed straight out the door to the ferry which shuttled passengers over to New Jersey. I had learned from the first attack on the World Trade Center in 1993, that the best place to be when a tragedy like that occurs, is in the water. I was very lucky I reacted so quickly on 9/11 as I made it home before the towers fell. That day and the days immediately following, New York City could best be described as a war zone.

God Bless the Souls of the people who perished on September 11, 2001.

I was taking a group of women to training to become panel members for Juvenile court. Panel members review the cases of children in the custody of the Dept of Family and Children Services. In the room with us was a young woman in uniform. Just as training began, she quietly slipped out of her seat and left the room. Our trainer then called break time and explained to us what had happened in NY. We were all in shock. Prisoners at a local jail were working in the building cleaning. They had pulled tv's out into the hall and were were all standing glued to the screens. I noticed that each of the prisoners were standing with tears streaming down their cheeks. My first thought was "these men truly understand the lose of freedom". I don't think we can ever go back and maybe that's a good thing. Sometimes innocence is not a good thing. I continue to pray for those who lost loved ones that day and for us all.

I work in customer relations. I happened to be on the telephone with a woman in New York city right after the first plane hit. I was getting reports from the calling center I worked in that we were getting hung-up (angrily)in most of the NY area. The woman I was talking to on the telephone screamed "Oh my God!" as the second plane hit. I asked her what was going on, and she said that commericial airliners were hitting the Twin Towers. We had heard it was aircraft, but not that it was commericial airlines. I numbly hung up the phone. The center shut down as we watched the horror unfold on television. It got personal to me when the realization hit that my father and his wife were flying back to the states that day from a cruise. They would be leaving the east coast in the morning. I immediately called them, no answer at home, no answer on cell. This added to my frustration and fear. I left my job and went immediately to my daughter's 1st grade classroom and interrupted the teacher. I asked if I could just hug her. She replied yes, and told me she wished she could do the same to her kids but she couldn't leave. My heart broke for everyone. We all lost something/someone that day. Each person who died...took a piece of ''US'' with them. This country will never, ever be the same as it was before 9/11. If you're not outraged, you're not paying attention. Practice peace. Express hope. Exercise kindness. It starts in your OWN backyard. Thanks for letting us post here. So many of us need a place to talk about it. :)

I was 8/9 months pregnant and was just about to step out the door to get some fantasy shots taken of me for my husband. I was quite nervous as I'd never done this kind of thing before. It was supposed to be a surprise for my husband. I had geared myself up to go and do this. Then my husband tells me what had happened. I was shocked....and the impact didn't sink in at all. I really had no clue of the severity.....and how many people were killed, and what the Twin Towers meant to America as I'm from a different country. My husband told me not to leave the house as I would have been heading toward the city. I was so geared up from the nerves of taking these silly pictures that I told him I had to go. He insisted I didn't. Then I had to tell him of my surprise. I came downstairs and turned on the tv to see what had happened. I cried. It was horrible! I went to get the photo shoot done 2 weeks later....which captured my pregnancy very beautifully. I gave birth the following week. Whenever I see the pictures, I think of 911.

Kess

It was my day off and I had the television on when the news came across that something had hit one of towers and they were waiting to get a confirmation. While they were explaining the events the second plane came across and hit the second tower. I couldn't believe that it happened right before my eyes on television !! My first reaction was to call my son who drives an eighteen wheeler for a living and talk to him. He had already heard it across the CB channels.
I know what it is to loose someone because I lost my husband 20 years ago in an accident. My heart just went out to all those families who had lost someone. I pray that nothing like this ever happens again.