Where were you?

It takes a monumental event for most to remember every detail about one specific day. Sadly, we all had that day in the recent past. They say time heals but I am still waiting for the haunting visions from that day to fade. The date was 9-11-2001 and a passenger plane had just flown directly into the first of the World Trade Center in New York City...

I was a naive 20-year-old in college in rural Oklahoma. As I was heading to class, I remember having the top down on my car. The air was crisp, kind of cool but the sun was warm. It was a beautiful morning. I was headed to my least favorite class, a grammar course with a very strict professor who insisted you called her Dr. Gaydosik.

I was in the parking lot when I heard on the radio the first tower was struck. I entered the classroom to find people talking about the tragic 'accident'. We all were seated and the lesson began like every other day. Little did we know what was about to unravel before our eyes. Because Dr. Gaydosik was the department head, she constantly had people interrupting her classes. She shooed people and reminded them how disrespectful it was to interrupt. This day was different. Another professor knocked, "Dr. Gaydosik, I need to speak to you in the hallway."

"Come back in an an hour and we will talk. Goodbye."

"Dr. Gaydosik, this is very important."

"So are my students. Come back in an hour."

As she was closing the door on this woman, her demeanor changed. Her voice was high, firm and she was visibly shaken.

"Victoria. I am serious."

The whole class gasped. No one- NO ONE called Dr. Gaydosik by her first name. She immediately walked into the hall closing the door behind her. We knew something was terribly wrong. As she came back into the room, she was pale, calm and direct. "They have just confirmed tower two of the World Trade Center in New York has taken a blow from a second airplane. These are thought to be terrorist attacks." Just then a girl sitting right next to me screamed an emotional, "My sister works in the building!" She broke down into a loud sob as we all leaned in to comfort her. Dr. G continued, "Please gather your things. Go home and please watch this on television. Be with your families if you can."

I could continue to tell you about the day. How I was glued to the television crying with my mother on the phone. How I feared Houston would be the next target. How my roommates and I were paranoid about airplanes in the sky. And how the images of people jumping out of the buildings before they collapsed are still embedded in my mind as one of the most horrific scenes I have ever witnessed. I couldn't help but think, this is how I was effected and I wasn't even there!

On the first anniversary, my roommate and I got several of our friends together at the newly built SWOSU clocktower. We lit candles for those lost in all three attacks, the fire and police, and the troops that were called to war on behalf.

Today marks 10 years since that fateful event and those memories are as fresh as they were back then.

Unfortunately, will be one of times we are asked and made to remember: where were you on September 11, 2001.

Please feel free to share your stories here.