Where were you on September 11
Do you remember where you were on September 11? I do. Many of us have a story to share. Here’s mine.
It was early Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001. I was in California. It was just past 6am PT (9am ET), I was driving around in Oxnard, California. I was on my way to pick up my dad from work (he worked the night before). I remember being at the stoplight on Oxnard Boulevard and Vineyard Avenue. The radio was on and I didn’t exactly listen intently to the breaking news. All I remembered hearing were the words “World Trade Center” and “fire”.
It didn’t really dawn on me the extent of what had occurred. All I could think of was, “Hey, I was just in NYC the day before.” So I started to think about anything and everything New York (not realizing what exactly happened at the moment). Yes, I was in New York City the week before September 11.
Nancy and I had just gotten back from NYC the day before September 11 after a week-long training class. We were scheduled to fly back home that Tuesday, September 11, but we changed our minds and flew to Los Angeles on Monday, September 10. This was our 1st vacation since having our then 1st child, Ethan, who was just born nine months earlier.
After my training class ended on Friday, September 7, Nancy and I decided to stay a few days to make this a mini vacation. We headed to the Statue of Liberty, this picture of the Manhattan Skyline was taken just 4 days before the attacks on the World Trade Center. I will always remember the splendor of the skyline that day. Our lives have never been the same since.
I think it made all of us pause for a very long time. The world had since gone through more attacks of different kinds (foreign and domestic). If there was one thing I walked away with – we should not be terrorized. If we prevent ourselves from doing the things we love to do, we let the terrorists win.
We had since returned back to New York City many times since that fateful day. But I will never forget where I was during that week prior and on September 11.
