25 years ago this morning I was driving to work listening to Jason Whitlock on the radio when he informed the audience that a plane crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers. He was confused, as was everyone else, as to what exactly was happening. It was the beginning of a day I will never forget.
I got to work and everyone had their radios out. We didn’t have any televisions in the office. The internet news sites were down because of too much traffic. We had to get our news from ESPN.com, the sports website, which turned into a news site that day.
I was able to get a website to load after one of the towers collapsed. It was a photo of the New York City skyline with all the dust in the air. A bunch of people in the office huddled at my desk and we tried to decipher what we were looking at. One of my coworkers pointed and said, “what are those?” and another said, “Those are buildings!” They looked so small in relation to the huge plume of smoke. Everyone gasped in unison.
We stayed glued to our radios all day. Some of my coworkers went to pick up their children from school. My kids were 4, 2, and 9 months old at the time, and were in daycare where I knew they were safe. I picked them up after work as usual. During the day, gas prices skyrocketed up to five dollars a gallon or way more in some cases. I left work at lunch to go try and get gas because rumors were that gas would be soon unaffordable. The rumors must have gotten around fast, because every gas station had a long line of cars trying to get gas. Lines down the street. It is the only time in my life that I have seen gas lines like that. I drove around awhile and didn’t have time to wait in line, so headed back to work. I got gas at a gas station near my house after work and the gas lines had dissipated in Gardner, Kansas. And the prices were back to normal by that time, too.
When I got home from work, I turned on the television and we just watched tv all night. President Bush spoke to the nation at some point and informed the nation that the United States would not let this stand.
Will never forget it.
Here is some of the 9/11 stuff that helps me “never forget.” My social media posts about 9/11 get less and less interaction with every year that passes. I heard someone say today that 25% of Americans alive today were not born before 9/11 happened. They have no memory or full understanding of what happened on that day. So I will keep posting about it on my blog and social media to hopefully keep the memories alive.
JM: Many of us remember the skyline of New York City on September 10, 2001. Memories of the towers exist in old movies and television shows. Every time I see them in a movie I am reminded of what happened on 9/11.
JM: The drone show was a nice touch this year.
JM: I heard this clip of George W Bush standing on the rubble of the World Trade Centers speaking to firefighters on my way to work this morning, 25 years later. I got goosebumps all over again. This has to be one of the greatest moments in recorded American history.
JM: Another goosebump moment happened when President Bush threw out the first pitch during the World Series in 2001. A strike right across the plate.
JM: Good stuff from the former President.
JM: I also revisit these “as it happened” videos from time to time. It helps me remember and relive what we were all going through that day.
JM: There is a lot of chilling video from that day, but this is one I don’t think I have seen before.
JM: Thanks for taking this trip down memory lane with me. What are your memories of 9/11? I always like reading what others experienced on that day.