Where were you?

11 years ago - I was in the 11th grade.  I heard the news that a plane had crashed in New York City.  If my memory serves me right -- I was sitting in the library doing research for Journalism.  It was Charles Davidson and I - I'm sure we were pestering Ms. Davis if at all possible.  Why would any teacher allow Charles and I out of class to run around - we were probably watching Regis and Kathy with Ms. Davis instead of doing any sort of research.  Journalism was 2nd period.  Prime time for ol' Regis!  When we heard the news we immediately went to tell Miss Moore (Lisa Moore, not Darlene).  The Journalism class gathered what news we could and walked around the school delivering typed out information to the teachers.  The teachers were oblivious to what was going on and many were in complete shock when we handed them the typed up information.  Surprisingly enough, not everyone had a cell phone then and we especially didn't have Internet on our phones.  Internet was still a "pretty big deal" during those times.  Strange how different things are in 11 years.

I can remember thinking how awesome it was that I got out of class to walk around the school.  I can also remember that day after school I was on E, so I went to Farm Service to fill my car up (it typically cost $9.00 to fill that Mazda Miata up).  The lines were so long, like I had to wait by Big Star (at the time) in line.  No way I was going anywhere else though, I had a charge card for Farm Service [Thanks Dad].  I could not understand why people were panicking about getting gas when planes crashed and knocked down a couple of towers.  I thought that people in Walnut Ridge were overreacting just as they overreacted when Terry Wood would forecast some sort of winter precipitation.  Lord knows that I did not even come close to understand what was happening.  People died.  A lot of people died.

Funny how when something happens that big, that tragic - you always remember where you were, what you were doing, and who you were with.  Even though I didn't have the slightest idea what was really happening, why people were attacking us or why they would want to crash some planes into a building in New York City - I remember.  I still can't believe that it happened, that so many people were killed.  Innocent people going to work - just another day.  I just can't imagine.

Don't forget to include families and victims of 9/11 in your prayers not only today but always.