Where I Was

So on this hallowed day I have always wanted to journal where I was so I have a written memory of it for me and my family. So here it goes:

On September 11, 2001 I was on my way to work-- at that time I was teaching in Taylorsville at Bennion Junior High, so I had about a half hour commute. As I was driving there I was listening to KBULL 93 and after one of the songs the emcee got on and said that something had hit the World Trade Center and he was unsure of what was going on and that he would keep us posted. So I turned the channel to the AM dial and found that whatever station it was had Bryant Gumbel on straight from Good Morning America or something and he was giving a play-by-play of what was happening. I knew right then it was big, so I called Randy, who was still home, and told him to turn on the tv that something weird was going on. He did and he started reporting what he was seeing. He was blown away. The second plane had not hit yet but shortly after it did. We hung up because he had to get to school. That is when my dad called and we spent time talking about the craziness going on and that is when the Pentagon got hit. We were talking about all the planes in the air and all the possible planes being rumored to be hijacked. I was dying. Once I arrived at school I talked to a few teachers before running to my class where I turned on my tv and pretty much stayed watching the entire time. That is where we witnessed the towers falling and the news of the plane crash in Pennsylvania that we would later find out was filled with civilian hero's who would take the plane out of the hijackers hands. I have to admit that our principal got on the speaker telling all of us to turn off our tvs and return to our daily routines but I could not do it. I was glued to the images and would be for the rest of the week. My students all seemed pretty calm except one, Katie, her dad had left on a flight that morning so she was pretty shaken up about his whereabouts. We let her call home and he was fine. He had called her mom from Denver where the were forced to land during the crisis. I must say that day changed our lives forever. When I got home we decided to modify our date night plans-- it was/ is our anniversary that day so we did not quite feel like celebrating and I needed to stay by tv footage so we went to McGraths Fish House and watched tv while we ate. Then we went to my families house where everyone was. We watched footage there until we went to Lance's Little League football game. It was really nice to be around family during this. It is times like this that you appreciate every moment we get with them!

So, on that note happy Patriots Day-- and happy 12th Anniversary Randy!