I remember it vividly. I was driving to work. Click Camera & Video in Beavercreek. I went the back way to avoid mall traffic. I was scanning through the radio stations, but there was no music. It was all talk. I figured something must have happened, so I stopped scanning. And listened. By that time both planes had hit. I started to cry. I remember feeling violated. Like, "How could this happen on our land." Leslie's mom called her off work because we were two minutes from Wright Pat Air Force Base, and she was afraid it would be targeted. So I had to stay an extra three hours to cover her shift. The base suggested everyone go home. Every place around us closed. The mall closed. But Click stayed open. Eight people came in that day. No one made eye contact. Only three spoke. We had the tvs in the store tuned to the new stations. I saw the towers fall. I didn't cry at work. Then I remembered Suzanne was in New York. I called her mom, but couldn't get through for an hour. Sharon was able to get a hold of her daughter. She was fine. She had stopped in to get a cup of coffee before ballet class, and heard the plane fly overhead. She said they still had class, but it was weird. The Pentagon was hit. So many people. Then Channel 7 reported that a plane had crashed downtown. The tallest building there was the Kettering Tower--where my dad worked. I freaked out. I called him--no answer. I called my mom. She hadn't heard anything. A few minutes later she called back. He was on his way home. They evacuated the building and most of the city. All commercial planes were grounded. And Channel 7 was wrong. By complete coincidence a transformer had blown, causing an explosion and brush fire just outside of downtown. There was a a huge sound that rattled the store windows. We all screamed. It took a second to figure out we had just heard a sonic boom. WPAFB was clearing the sky so Air Force One could fly over. I went home that night tired and scared. I got on the internet because I felt like I needed to be connected to people. Even though they were faceless. I read bluishorange. People had made a ton of comments. It was like a communtity. Everyone was looking for solace. And two years have passed and there was a war.

Where were you when it happened?