This coming Monday will be the 5th anniversary of the World Trade Center and Pentagon bombings. This was also my dad's birthday, which was overshadowed by this tragedy.

I was at work, sitting at my desk, when my supervisor ran out of his office and turned on the TV that sits in our office. We were all mesmorized, shocked, and saddened. I think the thing that sends chills down my spine is when I watched the 2nd plane crash in to the other building.

This is what the World Trade Center looked like in the early morning of September 11, 2001





The second plane



One word...Devastation.



From A Distance......

Who could ever forget these images....of pain and shock?

I was watching the Today Show and as soon as they started covering it, I called my dad. We chit-chatted about how it was odd that a plane would hit a building like that. We thought it was an accident. Then they showed the second plane, live, crashing into the South tower. Sheer horror is the only way I can describe what I felt. I left my apartment and went to school to my conducting class. We were kind of silent, and waiting on our teacher. He was late, had tears in his eyes, and said that this event would change our lives forever and we needed to be present for it, so conducting could take a backseet. We all walked together in a group to the UCO Student Center, and watched the big screen.

As the towers collapsed, a friend of mine began to cry. I held her, and a student from the newspaper snapped our photo.

I spent the rest of the day with my boyfriend and his family. They closed campus at noon.

My brother in law happens to have the same birthday as your father's birthday, Keith. Always fun to celebrate a 9-11 birthday now.

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Still corrupting young minds

I was at work....didnt really find out much until later in the day....

My buddy and I were talking the other day how after that everyone was so patriotic and displayed the American flag everywhere...it is sad how hardly anyone does that anymore...here anyway....but we see alot of Lebanese flags flying here...(Dearborn, Michigan) and no one says a thing about it.sad it really is sad

My American Flag flies 24/7, 365 days a year. I have had to replace it four times, but it is worth it to me. At night, I have it illuminated with two spotlights. This is my way of showing my support for the troups in Iraq, and for showing my respect and admiration for our great Country.

It is sad, Curt, that you see more lebanese flags flying, than American flags.

I was in Michigan at work, waiting for my boyfriend to call to tell me he was home from his trip to Vegas. They announced over the intercom what was happening, and we all began congregating around the TVs in the building. The company I worked for at the time (Domino's Pizza Corporate) shut down around 10:30am and sent us all home to be with our families. All I could do was sit by the phone and worry about my b/f getting home...he was in an airplane, and of course at the time, we had no idea the extent of the hijackings.

I was in California just waking up. It was the first day of pre-school for my youngest.

My sister called and woke me up with these words... 'our country is being attacked' or something to that effect. I thought I was dreaming.

I turned on CNN and didn't turn it off for days. I called my husband who was just hearing about it at work and he didn't have a TV. Later, while I was talking to him, the towers started crashing Live... I couldn't believe it.. I started crying and saying No,No,No.. there are people and firefighters still in the buildings! (man, just writing this brings me right back to that day! I remember it like it was yesterday.) It was so horrible.

Later that day, I took my son to pre-school and before we went I stopped at Burger King to get him nuggets and it was so surreal to sit there and try to act normal. Everyone was sort of staring out in space in deep thought. I couldn't stop crying but was trying to hide it from my son... I got to the school and everyone was upset but we all had to act normal for the kids. I had a lump in my throat for so long.

The next day there was a special on some country music station and the songs were so sad - Garth Brooks " The Dance" songs like that.. I thought I would never stop crying. I couldn't stop thinking about the people on the planes, the people having to choose to jump( that was the worst for me), the firefighters... all of it was just so overwhelming.

We had a candlelight vigil on Friday and we all stood in a circle holding candles and praying and singing patriotic songs ..a solo musician walked up and played his Saxophone and then just walked away - it was so poignant and beautiful and so heartbreaking.

Time does heal, but I'll never forget that day.

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" You've Been Thunder Struck ! "

I was at home. Had class a little while after. Showed up to class, I think the class was "Nonverbal Communication," it was cancelled.

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