I was teaching my 4th graders. Our principal went door to door to tell the teachers about the first plane. WE quietly continued the morning taking our students to PE. Ran to the nearest empty class, flipped on the TV and watched the horror of the second plane. I remember crying and thinking how can these buildings remain standing and then it was silent as we saw the first building fall.
Later that week, my oldest daughter had a cross country meet at a Dallas park. It was supposed to be a combination with colleges. Of course the colleges cancelled. I remember the silence surrounding me. No planes, not an enormous crowd as it usually was. I cried that day as well knowing the world was not the same.
I remember my mother crying and watching the TV for JFK's funeral. I understand now all these years later the feelings of how these tragedies change our lives in small and large ways.
May all of us have a blessed day.