Where were you?

Where were you?

Unfortunately there are sad things that tie a community together like no other, and those things almost always conjure up the, “Where were you?” question…years later.

Some of them are more regional, yet still powerful. Some of them affected the world.

September 11th not only brings up the events of that fateful day in 2001, but it resurfaces the other “Where were you?” moments of my past.

Where were you on January 28, 1986?

I was in the elementary school library with my classmates, and we couldn’t wait to see the Challenger take off. There was even a teacher on board!

Our teachers got the television ready, and we could hardly contain ourselves. It was a treat to watch TV in school!

I’ll never forget the explosion. I’ll never forget wondering if it was supposed to look like that? I’ll never forget the teachers bursting into tears, our first clue that this wasn’t supposed to happen.

I recently thought of this day when I was having lunch with a friend. We were talking about what school kids would be watching on television with or without their parents. The tears that sprung to my eyes surprised me.

I’ll never forget it.

Where were you on July 19, 1989?

I was folding towels in the living room of my childhood home when the plane cartwheeled down the runway in Sioux City, Iowa. Watching the coverage was something I’ll never forget. Being from Iowa, this was a big deal. Being from anywhere, this was a big deal. I still get goosebumps thinking about what that pilot and his crew did in such an incredibly impossible situation. I’m still amazed that there were survivors that day.

This year marked the twenty year anniversary of this crash.  Has it really been twenty years?  I remember it like it was yesterday.

I’ll never forget it.

Where were you on September 11th, 2001?

I was working a later shift at a travel agency. We specialized in adventure vacations. I remember walking into the office, right after the first plane hit. Everyone was silent, and they were watching the TV, which wasn’t the norm for our normally bubbly, buzzing office.

“What’s up?” I asked, totally oblivious to the national security issue that was unfolding. “What’s going on?”

“A plane has crashed into the World Trade Center!” people said, in awe that such an accident could happen.

And then it happened again.

And another plane crashed.

This wasn’t an accident.

Our office was located by a small regional airport, and all of a sudden, military-grade planes started taking off and landing there. Then we got word that the airspace had been closed. Which airspace? All of it.

I had clients stranded. They were stranded overseas. They were stranded stateside. They were calling and yelling and very upset. It was easier to yell at their agent than it was to face the reality of what was happening.

I had two friends (a couple that were close friends of ours) living in New York at the time. I knew they worked close to the Trade Center buildings. I immediately thought of them and tried to reach them on the phone. When I could actually get through, the calls went to their voicemails. I left messages out loud while silently willing them to be okay.

When I finally heard back from them, I started crying…with relief that they were safe. I was so glad they were okay. But, they weren’t okay. No one was okay. They’d seen it happen, and everyone’s lives would be different from that point forward. They’d been running with everyone else. They’d both been too close to what had happened, but they’d been spared…physically…emotionally was another story all its own. We were thousands of miles away, and I can’t get the images out of my head. I can only imagine what it’s like for someone who was in the thick of it.

I’ll never forget it.

So, where were you?