When someone says “9/11” what’s the first memory that comes to mind?
I was at work that day, working as a temp for an insurance company. One of my every day tasks was calling our New York office with certain numbers. It was always a casual call, followed with friendly banter and chatting. I had made the call that day as usual. A little while later I heard about the first plane. My first thought was, “Again?” as there was a similar, MUCH lesser incident a few years prior. Things escalated from there. I heard about the Pentagon, where my brother-in-law sometimes worked, and I became frantic to get a hold of my sister; however, phone lines were backed up and nobody could get through (my boss was kind enough to let my try a few times). Soon after that, we were all sent home & the office was closed.
When I got home, I got the idea to call our pastor to find out if there was going to be an emergency gathering at our church. My husband called me with the same idea (he was a delivery driver at the time & was on the road), so I called Pastor. He hadn’t considered it but thought it a wonderful idea. That night our little church was full to capacity, with people even sitting in the balcony (which was hardly ever used for anything other than the sound people) and standing in the aisles.
It wasn’t until later that I found out that everyone in the NY office had been wiped out; people I had spoken & joked with just a few minutes before were all gone. The good news was that I finally heard from my sister & her husband had NOT been at the Pentagon that day.
Unfortunately, now the date has new meaning for me; last year my big brother died unexpectedly on 9/11/2023.
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People started gathering spontaneously at church to pray. No one could contact our pastor. My boss was a nasty person to deal with, and became excited about it- wondering if he could get a contract to build the towers back. 
I rennet feeling panicked and sad, watching jumpers. Dan Rather choking up on the evening news.
And no sounds of planes in the sky for a long time.
Yes! The first time we heard an airplane overhead afterward everyone stopped what they were doing and looked up!
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