My 2 year old son and I were visiting my parents in Albany, NY and we were packing to go to the airport to return to California on 9/11 when the first plane hit. My Dad called from work and told my mom about the crash, but not to have her tell me since we were about to fly. My first reaction was that you never hear of 2 plane crashes in one day, so why would I be worried. Then the second plane hit. We were watching it live with Katie and Matt on the Today Show. My husband was in California and we kept talking back and forth about whether to fly or not. Then the airports were closed. My parents only live a couple of miles from the airport and I remember that the world outside became eerily quiet. The state offices were all shut down. All of the malls in the area closed. Everything was just quiet. We then just waited. After the airports were open I would call everyday to see if we could get a flight. It took us a week to get back to California and I still remember being just plain terrified to fly (especially since I was alone with my son). Our original flight was a United flight from Albany, through BWI to California. The only reason we were not on an earlier flight was that my husband (who is a Dr.) could not take time off to pick us up at the airport. I still can’t help but wonder what would have happened if we were able to get on an earlier flight – would it have been one of the planes that crashed? Hard thought to get out of your head even this many years later-

One of my college friends died in the WTC. He worked for one of the financial institutions. Almost 5 years later I still remember that entire day. I can’t imagine ever forgetting.