Where were You?

As I started the day at school, I contemplated spending a few moments with my students remembering the events of this day, 12 years ago.  I figured we would mention the World Trade Center, the brave men and women on Flight 93, the many brave law enforcement and emergency response personnel, as well as the civilians that lost their lives on that day.

I know there are numerous video offerings as well. www.history.com  What surprised me most with the first and second classes of the day, once they realized I WAS going to allow at least some class time for remembrance, was the number of students who actually wanted to share their personal memories of that day.  And that they wanted to hear mine.

Where were we on that day?
I was on my way home from work.  My night shift job at Bosch Power Tools in Heber Springs, Arkansas usually had me coming home around 7:30-8 AM.  We were running a bit late that morning, and, like every other day, Bob and I headed straight to the old chicken house down on Five Mile Road.  It was typical that we would meet our wives there on days we were late, but that morning it was obvious they had not been there yet.

As we were driving up to the new farm houses, now between 8:30-8:45 (Central Time zone), we had to pass our house.  Here came Michelle, waving her arms to flag us down.  She said to forget the chickenhouses for the moment, we needed to get inside and watch the TV because something bad was happening.

What I saw was that a single plane had hit the North Tower, the reporter then followed up (in their live feed) that a 3rd plane had just crashed into the Pentagon, and that the FAA had just grounded ALL flights over or into the continental US.  Then the feeds went back to showing the second plane hit the South Tower, and we knew that life in the US would never be the same.

I remember Michelle and I talking about what food we had in storage, and what we might need if this was the beginning of something major.  We also ran down, while picking up some basics, and made sure that both cars had full gas tanks.  Then we spent the day glued to the TV, as rumors, reports and the odd blend of known fact and speculation painted a picture of the world in potential chaos.

Where were YOU?