9/11. Where were you in that moment you learned the horrific news?

[phylny]

68. Working at a school in the shadow of Dulles Airport in Sterling, VA.

I was alerted about what was going on and didn't have students, so I watched on TV and saw the buildings come down. The school was put on lockdown and I was placed at the front door to let parents in. They came in droves. We didn't say anything to the children - it was an elementary school - and the kids left were wondering out loud what was going on and why so many kids were leaving early. I remember hearing all sorts of other rumors - one being that a plane also flew into the FAA complex in Leesburg, VA. I called my sister-in-law, and it was miserably hard for us to get through to NY. I finally got word that my brother was fine - he could not go to the meeting at the WTC that was scheduled for that day because he was disciplining an employee. All his other employees got out safely because they were in one of the basements.

By the time I got home, my kids were home from high school, middle, and elementary school. They wanted to know why I didn't come get them like other parents did. I explained that I was taking care of other children just like I knew their teachers were taking care of them.

In the day and days afterward, I remember thinking, "Life will never be normal again." Every time I heard a plane, I panicked. Of course, there were only military jets in the sky as there was no other airplane traffic, which created an eerie silence because we were in the flight path of Dulles.

When we came back to school, many of our Muslim students didn't show up for a few days. The principal, a lovely Jewish woman, called each home and let the parents know that their students were missed and would be protected and cherished just like the others. We slowly learned about the many people in our community who were killed at the Pentagon.

I used to work in 1 World Trade. It was a quirky building. You'd see the water in the toilet moving from the sway of the building. Someone had attached a stuffed monkey to the automatic window cleaners and you'd always smile when you saw it. You'd have to look down at the street to look for umbrellas to see if it was raining. Never once did I worry for my safety when I worked there, but that was in the 80's.