On September 11th, I was in Ocean City, Maryland, driving to work at an assisted living facility I helped run. We heard on the car radio that a plane had crashed intot he World Trade Center, but at that time they thought it was only a small plane and it was an accident. We stopped at a hardware store and I told the cashier and she said they were watching it in the office.
When we got to the facility and turned on the TV, we saw the magnitude of the destruction and shortly after, the second plane hit. I sat on the sofa in disbelief, leaning forward with my knees on my elbows as I watched first one, then the second tower crash to the ground. I left for home in Reisterstown shortly thereafter, as I was concerned that due to security reasons, the Bay Bridge over the Chesapeake Bay might be closed.
My kids were young and in school at the time but they had the televisions on in the classrooms that had them. We watched TV the rest of the day and deep into the night, unable to turn it off for fear we might miss some more news. We had no idea where this was going to lead to in terms of how this country and world has since changed.
The Baltimore Ravens were due to play the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football the following weekend but all games were cancelled. Instead of playing at night in balmy September weather, the game was moved to the dead of winter as the final game of the season in sub-freezing temperatures.
Where were you?