MOC 6 Day 11.On This Day.web

Journal Text:
Alan Jackson's song about 9/11 asks "Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day?" The second verse of the song rings absolutely true for me when he goes on to ask "Were you teaching a class full of innocent children, or driving down some cold interstate?" I was indeed teaching a classroom of middle schoolers when news of the plane crashing into the trade centers began to break. Our band teacher had her radio on and switched to TV as the reports came in. When the second plane hit we all knew that this was likely a terrorist attack and not a horrible accident. We also knew that our lives would never be the same again.
As events at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania unfolded, our anxiety mounted. Close to lunch time, I received a panicked call from my then 20 year old daughter - a college student about 300 miles away in Minnesota. She was heading to class in Menomonie, WI (an hour drive) when suddenly all traffic was stopped. On her radio were descriptions of the events and speculation that more could be happening. All air planes had been grounded and she quite logically assumed that this closure of highway I-94, a major interstate, was in some way connected to the crises occurring on the East coast.
Later we would find out that there was a fuel tanker truck that had crashed and was burning, but at the time, I felt so helpless, sad and anxious for her. Over 16 years later, Jackson's song still brings tears to me eyes and pain to my heart. We were fine, but I can't imagine how horrible that day was for so many other families.

Most of us have strong memories of 9-11, thank you for sharing yours. The anxiety over what unfolded affected so many people. It must have been scary to wait to find out why your daughter was stuck on the road. Great storytelling here. And I really like the image clipped to the numbers 9-11. Thanks for playing along with my challenge!