story11401.xml
Title
story11401.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
story
Date Entered
2005-05-10
911DA Story: Story
At the time, I was working overnight shifts, at a group home for handicapped adults. My shift ended at 9 am. The tv was on at work when I left, and everything was fine.
I lived in an apartment across the street from the home where I worked. I walked home, and after a few minutes, turned on the tv.
There had been some type of explosion, cause unknown, at one of the World Trade Towers.
I watched, mostly curious at that point. After a while, they figured out that a plane had hit the tower. That's when I remembered, my father was supposed to be flying from Rochester to Texas that day. I didn't know what plane he was on, what time he was supposed to leave, or where he was. Then another plane hit, and another, and the crash in a field down south. (When you're in Northern/Western NY, everything is south.)
We didn't here from my father until late that afternoon. His plane had been diverted to Chicago, but they weren't telling anyone in the airport what was going on, so he didn't know to call us and tell us he was okay.
My stepmother and I would up driving to Chicago Wednesday night to pick him up. It was an eerie trip, listening to the news repeat on the radio, with no new news, asking at every rest stop and gas station we stopped at if there was news, and, as we drove through the night, seeing the wide night sky without the lights of airplanes.
I lived in an apartment across the street from the home where I worked. I walked home, and after a few minutes, turned on the tv.
There had been some type of explosion, cause unknown, at one of the World Trade Towers.
I watched, mostly curious at that point. After a while, they figured out that a plane had hit the tower. That's when I remembered, my father was supposed to be flying from Rochester to Texas that day. I didn't know what plane he was on, what time he was supposed to leave, or where he was. Then another plane hit, and another, and the crash in a field down south. (When you're in Northern/Western NY, everything is south.)
We didn't here from my father until late that afternoon. His plane had been diverted to Chicago, but they weren't telling anyone in the airport what was going on, so he didn't know to call us and tell us he was okay.
My stepmother and I would up driving to Chicago Wednesday night to pick him up. It was an eerie trip, listening to the news repeat on the radio, with no new news, asking at every rest stop and gas station we stopped at if there was news, and, as we drove through the night, seeing the wide night sky without the lights of airplanes.
Collection
Citation
“story11401.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed December 24, 2025, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/13545.