Six Years Ago

Where were you six years ago today? Do you remember what you were doing when you heard the towers had been hit? Some parts of the day are vivid to me and I cannot believe that it has already been six years.

I has graduated from college in May and was working as a secretary at Doody Door and Hardware in Dayton. I often listened to the radio at work, so that was how I first heard about the events. Without a TV in the office, my first images were from CNN.com. I remember waiting and waiting for those pictures to load on my computer. We stayed at work that day but did not really get much done.

Once I got home, we watched the news for hours. We heard a sonic boom that night, and everyone came out of there houses to check on that noise. It was quite loud. I remember seeing all my neighbors standing in their front yards on Skylark Drive.

I was planning a wedding with Brian at that time, so Mom and I had an appointment with a photographer that night. We still went, but the wedding did not seem so important at that time.

I watched a lot of news for the next few days as the details unfolded. About a month after the event, I did visit Ground Zero with Brian. He grew up in New Jersey and some people from his hometown lost their lives that day. I remember how much smoke and soot were around even a month after the event.

I missed being on a college campus after the events of 9/11. I wanted the opportunity to discuss the events with my peers in an academic environment. I started to think more about the college campus environment, which may have helped lead me to an eventual career in higher education.

In May 2002, Mom and I took a trip to New York City. Their tourism had really suffered, and it was an opportunity to support the city. I needed to use a plane ticket and Mom had never been to the city. The financial district was somewhat of a ghost town, but the rest of the city seemed more back to normal. We had a great trip.

On my first trip to New York City in 1997, I bought a Hard Rock Cafe shirt with the cityscape drawn on the back. After 9/11, I found that shirt and realized that the Twin Towers are drawn on the back. I cannot part with that shirt now.

I had trouble writing the date 9/11 in 2002. I think that I actually future dated some things to 9/12/02. In some ways, the events feel so recent. In other ways, the events are becoming part of history instead of the present. No matter what, I think that this will continue to be a memorable day for those who lived through it.