Where Were You On September 11, 2001?

As the anniversary of the 9/11 approached Sunday, it got me thinking about the events that transpired on that horrible day 15 years ago.

We all remember what we were doing that day, of course. I happened to be doing a morning show on a radio station in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. We were broadcasting from an interim studio in the basement while our regular studio was being remodeled.

A co-worker from another station in the building stopped in our studio to say a plane had flown into one of the World Trade Center Towers in New York. It struck me at first that it was some type of smaller plane, perhaps piloted by a civilian, who'd made some sort of terrible mistake. And having just been to New York City for the first time a year or so ago, I was familiar with where the towers stood.

I ran upstairs to the newsroom to watch the coverage on the small TV there, and then would run back downstairs to go on the air and describe what I was seeing. Then the second plane hit. And we all knew then that it wasn't an accident; we were, in fact, under attack. I put the ABC News feed from the news/talk station in our building on my station's air the rest of the day, and headed to the conference room, where we were all glued to the TV, almost unable to comprehend what was happening.

I remember going home later that afternoon and noticing that the weather in western Wisconsin that day was much like the weather in New York City: a crisp fall-like day with low humidity, highlighted by a brilliant blue sky-- a day much like yesterday in southeast Minnesota.

Previous to that morning, it had been oppressively warm and humid, but that morning couldn't have been more refreshing. Always one to appreciate when the dew point drops in the summer and fall, I remember feeling guilty that I was 'enjoying' that beautiful weather-- which appeared to be the same weather conditions the east coast was experiencing-- while those awful attacks were occurring. It didn't seem right that I was able to go on about my normal activities (though nothing much about that day was normal)-- such as noticing the weather-- when so much death and destruction was taking place in another part of our country.

I remember all of it like it was yesterday. It's hard to believe it's been 15 years already. Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?