Where were you ?

[Titan!]

7 years ago ?

How did you respond ?

I got up about an hour after the events and decided that I would go to Chicago to make sure my fiancee was safe. I brought a weeks worth of grocieries and a shot gun so that I could be prepared for the inevitable riots that would surely ensue. Fortunately the shot gun wasn't necessary, but the frozen pizza and Tabor Hill Demi Sec was a nice diversion.

[lokizilla]

I remember where I was. I was in South Carolina, at first I thought it was just an ordinary day, until the trucking company my ex-husband worked at, said that the truck had to come back to Texas, lock down of all trucks.

[Biff]

Listening to Howard Stern as his crew was busting his balls for not closing the deal with Pam Anderson. I had just left a customer to whom, after I had written the date on a packing slip, I commented that it was "nine one one day". Little did I know.

I remember the fear. I remember crying. I remember my then girlfriend telling me how the US finally got what it deserved.

[landmammaldolphin]

I was sitting at my desk at work when my mother called. She told me about something or other and then said that she also wanted to let me know that a plane had crashed into one of the WTC buildings. I immediately turned on the radio and told my co-workers about it. Just after that the 2nd plane hit as we were listening. Nobody was working at that time, just listening. A couple of us went to Sears electronics department at lunch and watched the coverage on their TV's. We didn't do much the rest of the afternoon and because planes were being grounded, UPS was basically shutting down which halted our shipments anyway. When 5 o'clock finally rolled around I rushed home to be with my family and girlfriend (who would later become my wife). I sat there all night glued to the TV and worrying about the future of America. I have never felt such despair or fear. I will never forget that day or the days following.

[hotzester]

I was awakened by the constant ringing of my phone. I remember thinking it was a telemarketer. I thought, "Wow, this guy is incessant!" When I heard my mom on the answering machine saying a plane had hit the first tower, I woke up quite quickly. I thought about the B-25 that had crashed into the Empire State Building in 1945, and how sad it was another accident had occurred.

By the time I turned TV on, the second plane had hit.

I'd been in Manhattan less than two weeks prior, for a job interview. I was dating someone in the airline industry at the time, and she'd flown up to the city so I could show her around, since she'd never been there. (She lived in DC.) I asked if she wanted to go to the Trade Center roof, because the view from up there was incredible, and she said "Nah, we'll go next time. It's not going anywhere."

9/11 really hit home for me. I lived about 2 1/2 hours away from Ground Zero. I'd worked for quite some time for a major airline. I've been to and through the WTC a million times. I was also a firefighter for a few years. 9/11 took so many of the things I'd spent time doing, and devastated them.

Oddly, the girl I was dating was the daughter of someone in the Washington political scene. (No one anyone would know!) Friday the 14th, there was going to be a dinner at the White House that she'd asked me to go with her to. I knew right away that it was off the table when all hell broke loose.

I spent the next few days terrified - but wondering if it would make any sense to go down there and try to help. Right about the time I realized I couldn't just sit there anymore, my best friend called and said, "Are you thinking what I am?" So we went to NYC, and we were asked to go to St. Vincent's Medical Center and hand out relief supplies to rescue workers. It was an experience I'll never forget.


It's cliche to say it was "the day everything changed." But for me, it really was.

[Biff]

We'll go forward from this moment
By Leonard Pitts
September 12, 2001

It's my job to have something to say.
They pay me to provide words that help make sense of that which troubles the American soul. But in this moment of airless shock when hot tears sting disbelieving eyes, the only thing I can find to say, the only words that seem to fit, must be addressed to the unknown author of this suffering.

You monster. You beast. You unspeakable bastard.

What lesson did you hope to teach us by your coward's attack on our World Trade Center, our Pentagon, us? What was it you hoped we would learn? Whatever it was, please know that you failed.

Did you want us to respect your cause? You just damned your cause.
Did you want to make us fear? You just steeled our resolve.
Did you want to tear us apart? You just brought us together.

Let me tell you about my people. We are a vast and quarrelsome family, a family rent by racial, social, political and class division, but a family nonetheless. We're frivolous, yes, capable of expending tremendous emotional energy on pop cultural minutiae -- a singer's revealing dress, a ball team's misfortune, a cartoon mouse. We're wealthy, too, spoiled by the ready availability of trinkets and material goods, and maybe because of that, we walk through life with a certain sense of blithe entitlement. We are fundamentally decent, though -- peace-loving and compassionate. We struggle to know the right thing and to do it. And we are, the overwhelming majority of us, people of faith, believers in a just and loving God.

Some people -- you, perhaps -- think that any or all of this makes us weak. You're mistaken. We are not weak. Indeed, we are strong in ways that cannot be measured by arsenals.

IN PAIN
Yes, we're in pain now. We are in mourning and we are in shock. We're still grappling with the unreality of the awful thing you did, still working to make ourselves understand that this isn't a special effect from some Hollywood blockbuster, isn't the plot development from a Tom Clancy novel. Both in terms of the awful scope of their ambition and the probable final death toll, your attacks are likely to go down as the worst acts of terrorism in the history of the United States and, probably, the history of the world. You've bloodied us as we have never been bloodied before.
But there's a gulf of difference between making us bloody and making us fall. This is the lesson Japan was taught to its bitter sorrow the last time anyone hit us this hard, the last time anyone brought us such abrupt and monumental pain. When roused, we are righteous in our outrage, terrible in our force. When provoked by this level of barbarism, we will bear any suffering, pay any cost, go to any length, in the pursuit of justice.

I tell you this without fear of contradiction. I know my people, as you, I think, do not. What I know reassures me. It also causes me to tremble with dread of the future.

In the days to come, there will be recrimination and accusation, fingers pointing to determine whose failure allowed this to happen and what can be done to prevent it from happening again. There will be heightened security, misguided talk of revoking basic freedoms. We'll go forward from this moment sobered, chastened, sad. But determined, too. Unimaginably determined.


THE STEEL IN US
You see, the steel in us is not always readily apparent. That aspect of our character is seldom understood by people who don't know us well. On this day, the family's bickering is put on hold.

As Americans we will weep, as Americans we will mourn, and as Americans, we will rise in defense of all that we cherish.
So I ask again: What was it you hoped to teach us? It occurs to me that maybe you just wanted us to know the depths of your hatred. If that's the case, consider the message received. And take this message in exchange: You don't know my people. You don't know what we're capable of. You don't know what you just started.

But you're about to learn.




http://www.ornery.org/essays/2001-09-12-1.html

[Howie Feltersnatch]

I woke up shortly after it had happened and turned on the tv to people talking. I looked at the bottom and it said "Western Michigan University - Closed" i thought 'woo hoo, I didn't do my homework anyway!'

then i realized what had happened, as a naive kid I had no clue how big it was. I still feel terrible to this day for thinking 'how awesome I don't have class!'

I've never told anyone this

[boizalynne]

7 years ago ?

How did you respond ?

I got up about an hour after the events and decided that I would go to Chicago to make sure my fiancee was safe. I brought a weeks worth of grocieries and a shot gun so that I could be prepared for the inevitable riots that would surely ensue. Fortunately the shot gun wasn't necessary, but the frozen pizza and Tabor Hill Demi Sec was a nice diversion.

I was a Senior in High School and I heard about it while I was listning to Howard Stern. They did a really good job keeping everyone updated because they actually watched it happen, so I heard it in real time... it was crazy... I was scared that more shit was about to happen...

[boizalynne]

Listening to Howard Stern as his crew was busting his balls for not closing the deal with Pam Anderson. I had just left a customer to whom, after I had written the date on a packing slip, I commented that it was "nine one one day". Little did I know.

I remember the fear. I remember crying. I remember my then girlfriend telling me how the US finally got what it deserved.

I was listning to Howard Stern too....

[Biff]

Listening to Howard Stern as his crew was busting his balls for not closing the deal with Pam Anderson. I had just left a customer to whom, after I had written the date on a packing slip, I commented that it was "nine one one day". Little did I know.

I remember the fear. I remember crying. I remember my then girlfriend telling me how the US finally got what it deserved.

I was listning to Howard Stern too....

I agree with you that Howard did a great job while the events were going on. In hindsight I should have gone home instead of continuing to work but I got everything I needed via Howard.

As a somewhat interesting aside, when I got to my next customer (a school) the receptionist was just chatting on the phone. Clueless about what had happened I suggested that she pull out one of the televistions and turn on the news.

[airhornahole]

I was at work processing a normal day. The woman sitting next to me got a call from her daughter after the 1st plane. We all jumped on the internet to get news. Everyone in the office pretty much stopped working. I called my wife and was talking to her when she gasped and relayed that the 2nd plane hit. I will never forget hearing, over the phone, my 3 year daughter ask, "Why plane hit building?" Of course she didn't realize the impact but I was in immediate fear for my family. The rest of the day I wore out my cell battery twice talking to my wife, my parents who live in Detroit, and my customers (who were also in Detroit). It was amazing to me that some people were still worried about the bottom line on a day like that.

My little girls words still ring in my ears when I think about it.

[hotzester]

Clueless about what had happened I suggested that she pull out one of the televistions and turn on the news.

I wrote a story as the one year mark approached, and in it I mention how I think "Turn TV on" was probably the most uttered statement that day. I think everyone, at least once, said those three words to someone.

[boizalynne]

I was listning to Howard Stern too....

I agree with you that Howard did a great job while the events were going on. In hindsight I should have gone home instead of continuing to work but I got everything I needed via Howard.

As a somewhat interesting aside, when I got to my next customer (a school) the receptionist was just chatting on the phone. Clueless about what had happened I suggested that she pull out one of the televistions and turn on the news.

I did that too. When I finally walked into school, no one was aware of what had happened. I told all the teachers I saw in the hallway on my way to homeroom to turn on the televisions. We did absolutely nothing but watch TV all day in school. I just wanted to get home and be with my family. Like I said, I was scared more was about to happen... it was a very uneasy feeling...

[howmytaintlook]

I was working as a broker and had just hung up the phone with one of our guys in New York. I turned to look at the TV to see what Maria Bartiromo was saying and suddenly they are showing smoke coming from the WTC. Initally we thought some little plane had "gotten too close". Suddenly the second plane hit and everyone was saying WTF??????????

Right in the middle of this I got a call from a client who stated "I am watching TV right now and I see a lot of papers flying though the air. None of those had better be mine". I assured him that they weren't as our offices were not in the WTC and looked at my co-workers who all agreed that there are some a-holes who not matter what the circumstances want to be sure that there are no a-holes larger than themselves.

[Allyson]

I was in geometry class freshman year and there was an announcement over the loudspeaker for any kids who had parents that worked in the WTC to come down to the office. One of my fellow students said a plane had crashed into one of the buildings. I thought he was kidding. He wasn't, and we later learned that those kids were called down to the office basically to find out their parents had been killed. Rather devastating.

They let us out of school early that day and I could see and smell the smoke from my house (just across the water from Manhattan). We got phone calls from lots of family members who worked in the city saying they were okay and whatnot, but we did end up losing two cousins - brothers - both with small children at home. So yea that day took a toll on my family and it just enrages me to think about it.

[lokizilla]

Listening to Howard Stern as his crew was busting his balls for not closing the deal with Pam Anderson. I had just left a customer to whom, after I had written the date on a packing slip, I commented that it was "nine one one day". Little did I know.

I remember the fear. I remember crying. I remember my then girlfriend telling me how the US finally got what it deserved.

Please tell me you left her, and she's not your now wife.

[Biff]

Listening to Howard Stern as his crew was busting his balls for not closing the deal with Pam Anderson. I had just left a customer to whom, after I had written the date on a packing slip, I commented that it was "nine one one day". Little did I know.

I remember the fear. I remember crying. I remember my then girlfriend telling me how the US finally got what it deserved.

Please tell me you left her, and she's not your now wife.

She was around for a few months longer because a) she was a great lay and b) I chalked it up to her age.

Turns out she was just nutty. But she released an absolutely fantastic cd of her own piano compositions.

[smokejacklandslide]

high school gym class, I don't to this day know why they didn't send us all home, we only watched it on tv the rest of the day and walked around like we were trapped in some bizarre timewarp...or a jean claude vandamme movie...

[lokizilla]

Good deal, Biff. Proves a friends theory. But I saw the video of the first plane hit, at the truck stop, thought nothing of it. Two hours later, while ex-husband was filing up the semi on orders to come back to the main point of business, a guy said "we're at war, and all trucks have to go home to be accounted for."

[dino]

I was 23 and in Caro Michigan inspecting a State Psychiatric Hospital when some ladies walked by and and said a plane hit the WTC. I thought that sucks, not realizing what was happening. I continued working until another lady came in and said "they hit the white house" and at that point my jaw dropped and I was speechless. I went to watch the TV and learned what was really happening as they locked down the buildings we were in at that time. As soon as I saw that both buildings were hit i knew they were going to come down. I was working with a army reservist and she was thinking she'd get called in pretty quickly.

I got my work done as quickly as I could and returned to GR that afternoon and went to the bar my friends worked at and was glued to the TV. I remember being absolutely GLUED to the television for the next few days

I explicitly remember everything that day from the clothes I wore to the food I ate and being in shock at what was going on.

As a lot of people say, there's a pre-911 attitude and a post-911 attitude. That day changed everything.

[airhornahole]

I remember that a Mexican customer of mine was in Detroit when it happened. Obviously he was stuck in the States longer than he expected. That night he went to a local sprts bar for a drink. Now, being from Mexico, he is dark complected. He also had a goatee. (To some, he looked Arabic). He said that everyone stared at him like they wanted to dismember him right then. Needless to say, he shaved the goatee and spent the rest of the trip in his hotel room. He was seriously afraid.

[Allyson]

I remember that a Mexican customer of mine was in Detroit when it happened. Obviously he was stuck in the States longer than he expected. That night he went to a local sprts bar for a drink. Now, being from Mexico, he is dark complected. He also had a goatee. (To some, he looked Arabic). He said that everyone stared at him like they wanted to dismember him right then. Needless to say, he shaved the goatee and spent the rest of the trip in his hotel room. He was seriously afraid.

On a similar note, my grandfather and I walked into the local convenience store shortly thereafter. The guys that worked there were Indian, not Arabic, but to an old white guy that doesn't matter. He asked them what they thought of what the people from their country did to us. They replied, "This is our country." I thought that was really sweet.

[chevsscamaro67]

I was in seventh grade English class and totally naive as to what was happening. Had no idea what was going on other than a couple of buildings were hit by air planes, I even made the dickish comment about how if they wanted to bring the buildings down why didn't they aim lower. Like I said, completely naive as to what was happening, later I realized what was happening and started to fear for other cities.

[airhornahole]

I was in seventh grade

Damn am I old.

[potthole]

I was a junior in high school at the time. I was in my AP US History class when we learned about it. Another teacher came busting into the room and yelled at my teacher to turn on the TV. When asked why, he said that a plane had just hit the WTC, and although most thought it was an accident, he knew it had to be an attack.

The TV was turned on just seconds before the second plane hit. The other teacher was back by my desk, and I could hear him whisper, "Those bastards got the other one!" As many others have mentioned, the rest of my day was spent glued to the TV while in class.

There are two things that stick out quite vividly in my mind about that day. The first was how when I was driving home after school, nearly all the radio stations weren't playing music- they were almost all playing the exact same news feed. It sounded really strange to flip from station to station, hearing the exact same thing on each one. The other thing that really sticks out in my mind was the silence outside that was created while the flights were all grounded for a few days following the 11th. Very eerie.

[mudroomdonna]

I was a college freshman - I had time in between classes and was across the street from the college just leaving a store when a woman in the parking lot was screaming something about "they attacked the pentagon!" I walked up to the library of the college and sat down at a computer to see the news headlines. The main building of the campus had all of the TVs on and tons of students squeezed in everywhere to watch.

They closed the school down and we all went home.

[lokizilla]

First thought....oh not good, another plane accident. Second thought, Bush is going to Barksdale, AFB. (I lived there as a kid, and there were some cool under ground buildings.) Third thought, "Damn, why did my brother join the Army in April." Fourth thought, "Is my Dad going to be pulled back into the military?"

[Queenie]

My office was in a bank building and they had a break room with a TV in the basement. I would go down daily at a certain time and take a break. I was astonished and shocked at what was happening. I can remember going outside to see if I saw any planes flying in our area, then going inside and telling my partner. We went down stairs and tried to squeeze into the already crowded break room. At lunch I went to Church and prayed. I remember having a conversation with my Pastor to the effect that I thought it was the end of the world, but for the first time I was not afraid. I went back to work and left early so I could get home before my kids got home. I wanted to be there to answer any questions they might have (as if I had the answers), and to calm them.

The week after, I had to fly to Charleston, SC for a property inspection. My parents and kids were scared for me to go, but I really wasn't. Airport security was hell, but all in all, the trip wasn't that different than any other one I took every month. I was glad to get back home and see my family.

[poragent]

I was in World Economics and Geography class at Maine Maritime Academy when the professor walked in and told us all that an airplane had hit the WTC. I stupidly thought that it had been a Cessna or something, and thought "that's heartbreaking" and went on with the class. It was'n until I got in my truck after class to go down to the Fire Department I was working for that the news was all abuzz about planes hitting the Trade Center. I will NEVER forget the words I heard when I pulled into the parking lot,"We are now hearing reports that another airliner has hit the Pentagon". I raced to the TV and was totally shocked by what I saw. I then called my mother, who was a Public Affairs Officer for a Navy office here in Maine. When she picked up the phone, I identified myself, and before I could say another word, she said,"I can't talk...this is an unsecured line". And then hung up. That scared me.

I had a friend of mine, CAPT Gerald DeConto, USN killed at the Pentagon. I'll never know, but I like to think that he was trying to help other people when that aircraft hit when he died.

[spunkypopcorn]

Art class senior year of high school. We watched the news for the first 4 periods until my next teacher decided there wasn't any new information, so we should learn something (because opening a text book and concentrating on learning what could never have seemed more worthless than at that moment was so easy to do just then). I remember watching the first building on fire and then the second plane hitting and thinking it looks too much like a movie to be real. I felt such anger and fear (not that most people not from the States know where Wisconsin is, let alone plot to bomb it or crash planes into it...but you never know) and couldn't fathom why anyone would do such a thing.

I remember trying to think if I knew anyone who would be there. I didn't...and then my cousin decided to enlist in the army.

[dxanman]

It was my senior year of high school, and I was sitting in my 1st period class when a teacher walked in and told the teacher to turn on the news. I remember sitting in the back of the room, watching the first WTC building burning and seeing the second plane hit. We all sat in silence until the bell rang. I felt incredibly horrible watching it on TV, and for the rest of the day, in every class I went to - because our school board didn't close for the day - we watched the events unfold.

I can remember my band director at the time, who was a National Guard reserve, wondering if he would be deployed for anything (in NYC, DC, abroad)... which, it turns out, he never was. But, I remember watching everything I could when I got home that night, and for the next few days after that. It'll be something I never forget.

[cyclist81]

I was in college working at the college radio station. I was on the air talking about what I had just played when another DJ came into the station and got my attention. He started talking about something I needed to see in the station waiting room. I figured "oh shit not another celebrity on the run" and started the next cd and then I saw the TV and my jaw dropped.

[ashleykme]

I was 9 months pregnant with my first child, and I turned on the tv just as the first building was falling, right at that moment. Just about a month before that, my ex-husband and I took a vacation to NYC and went to the top of the building, so my daughter is the absolute last generation that can say she had been there, although she was inside me at the time. Luckily, Tuesdays were my only day off as I was working 2 jobs at the time, we just hung around and watched the news

[pentex]

I was blasting at a quarry in Saratoga, NY. I was in a truck when I heard it on Howard Stern. I yelled out the window, "some dumbass just hit the World Trade Center with a Cessna or something". Without a seconds hesitation, one of the other guys yelled back "It's Bin Laden!" I'll never forget that. I walked into the quarry office just in time to see the first tower fall. There were about 10 people in the room, clustered around the TV on the wall, and there wasn't a sound out of anyone.

Three of our other coworkers were blasting underground that day, and didn't know anything had happened until 430 pm.

[fistor!@#]

I was awakened by the constant ringing of my phone. I remember thinking it was a telemarketer. I thought, "Wow, this guy is incessant!" When I heard my mom on the answering machine saying a plane had hit the first tower, I woke up quite quickly. I thought about the B-25 that had crashed into the Empire State Building in 1945, and how sad it was another accident had occurred.

By the time I turned TV on, the second plane had hit.

I'd been in Manhattan less than two weeks prior, for a job interview. I was dating someone in the airline industry at the time, and she'd flown up to the city so I could show her around, since she'd never been there. (She lived in DC.) I asked if she wanted to go to the Trade Center roof, because the view from up there was incredible, and she said "Nah, we'll go next time. It's not going anywhere."

9/11 really hit home for me. I lived about 2 1/2 hours away from Ground Zero. I'd worked for quite some time for a major airline. I've been to and through the WTC a million times. I was also a firefighter for a few years. 9/11 took so many of the things I'd spent time doing, and devastated them.

Oddly, the girl I was dating was the daughter of someone in the Washington political scene. (No one anyone would know!) Friday the 14th, there was going to be a dinner at the White House that she'd asked me to go with her to. I knew right away that it was off the table when all hell broke loose.

I spent the next few days terrified - but wondering if it would make any sense to go down there and try to help. Right about the time I realized I couldn't just sit there anymore, my best friend called and said, "Are you thinking what I am?" So we went to NYC, and we were asked to go to St. Vincent's Medical Center and hand out relief supplies to rescue workers. It was an experience I'll never forget.


It's cliche to say it was "the day everything changed." But for me, it really was.

This may be the best post I've ever read. You are a good man, zester.

[fistor!@#]

I was sitting at my desk, tapping away at the keyboard. I hadn't yet donned my headphones, as the ambient noise in the cube farm hadn't yet reached a level that would distract me from my work. The co-worker over the wall from me mentioned, matter-of-factly, that a plane had just struck the WTC. That got the attention of his boss, and together they watched/read the news on CNN.com. Looking back, I can't believe that this news barely registered on my internal RADAR. I instantly assumed that a Cessna had accidentally clipped the building or something similar and my thoughts of the Cessna landing in Red Square some time before that entered my mind, then quickly exited as I returned to my work.

My co-worker and his boss continued to monitor the situation. This particular co-worker had just returned from Manhattan, where our company was installing a system, so he had a vested interest in what was happening. A couple days earlier, he had shown me pictures of the towers that he took from the cafe across the street, and tried to describe to me the awesome immensity of them as I feigned interest.

I had nearly forgotten about the plane incident when suddenly he loudly exlaimed, "Holy shit! Another plane just hit!".

Instantly I knew this was much bigger than I first realized. From that point on, I tried to get onto CNN.com, MSN.com, or any other news outlet, but all attempts timed out. So I scrambled over to my co-workers desk to see the North Tower on fire and smoking for the first time. My mind spun. How could a Cessna cause so much damage?

Quickly I learned this was no accident, and this was not the work of a pair of Cessnas. When my co-worker's connection to CNN would no longer refresh, I went back to my desk, put on my headphones, and tuned into Howard Stern, who did a remarkable job of broadcasting the news as it happened.

I didn't see the actual footage of the planes striking the towers and the collapses until I got home several hours later. My mother was visiting, and as I was soaking the footage in for the first time, she was trying to steal my attention away by complaining about some insignificant problem happening in her life. I clearly remembered snapping at her and saying, "Shut up for a minute! I know you've seen this all day, but I'm seeing it for the first time! My country is under attack, dammit!" Sounds overly-dramatic now, but I was pissed off, in a BIG way.

To this day I hold no guilt for biting her head off at that moment. Whatever her problems may've been, they were petty compared to what had happened to our nation that day. I will never forget that day, as long as I live.

[hbones]

I woke to my phone ringing. My brother called to tell me a plane had crashed into the WTC. I was pursuing a carreer in aviation at the time and had been at work the night before at the airport. My friend called on his way to class and came by my place right after my brother had called. We turned on the TV right before the second plane hit. I knew when I saw the second plane hit, that my carreer in aviation was going to be seriously side tracked. I was off of work for a few days. I remember people lining up for gas and groceries. Gas prices spiked and malls closed. It was a very surreal time.

[fistor!@#]

It was a very surreal time.

Indeed it was. It was both the ugliest and most beautiful time I can remember as an American. We were devastated, but every one of us stood united.

[0rz0ski]

I was a freshman in high school in art class, and somehow, one of my classmates knew to turn on the TV. We had the TV on for about 5 minutes before the school guidance counselor made an announcement over the PA for all teachers to turn on their TVs. I had no idea what the hell was going on for the first 5 min, and I didn't even realize that I saw the second plane hit the tower live, I thought it was a replay of the first plane. Pretty much all we did for the rest of the day was watch TV and talk about what was going on.

[potthole]

At the time I was in a video production class in high school. Each week we produced a short news program for the school. When we all came to class the next day (we started an hour early, before the other students arrived) we were all still in a bit of a state of shock. Our teacher came in and told us that we weren't doing our show that week, and we could just use the class periods to catch up on other work or to just reflect.

All of us looked at each other. No. We were going to make something. That very day. We hurried to head out to the hallways with cameras, recording interviews with students and faculty. A couple of us stayed behind, quickly splicing together pieces of footage from the news networks and videos of the interviews. I had never cried while editing a video before, but that wasn't the case this day. We used the song "Dolphin's Cry" by Live in the video. Whenever I hear it, I still get goosebumps and chills.

Somewhere at my parents house I think I've still got a copy of our final product from the 12th. I should try to dig it up the next time I visit.