I was in first period English my senior year of high school. A student had mentioned hearing something about an airplane accident in NY, but no one considered it anything besides an accident. Then our teacher took a call during class, which was unusual – it was her father, who had worked in the federal government. She was quiet, then her face turned white and she said, “What do you mean someone attacked the Pentagon?” Other details are fuzzy in my memory, but I’ll never forget that moment.

More information emerged, and I don’t recall our teachers really teaching anything that day. TVs were set up in the halls, and my friends and I went home at lunch to watch the coverage thus far. After school I went to my babysitting job – I don’t think I really knew what to say to the boys, or if they asked any questions – their parents came home pretty quickly. I remember the days and days of news coverage, all the photos and videos, that you wanted to stop watching, but you couldn’t.