[ComradesTrue]

I had taken a vacation day that day, so I was sitting on the couch listening to the radio (The Ticket in Dallas, for those in the know..). They mentioned the first plane in an offhand manner, so I turned on Good Morning America to see what was going on. Watched the 2nd plane hit live as I continued to listen to the guys on the radio.

I called my boss at work, knowing that they did not have access to a TV. I kept them appraised of everything. I remember when the pentagon was hit I called her and said "My God, we are going to war."

Since I was still single, and my family was 1000 miles away, I called a friend who was a nurse and who was also off that day. He came over and we watched everything together. We just sat there in silence. Finally, about noon, we were hungry so we opted to go out for lunch. (this sounds a little callous now, but I had a tiny apartment, no food, and I think we both just needed to get away from the TV a bit).

We went to a Chili's type of establishment. It was probably half full... and completely silent. Very eerie. By the time we headed back to my apartment many companies/stores/etc were closing. I remember all the hand-written signs saying "Closed early for national tradgedy." The Dallas Morning News did an "extra" that day and we bought one. I still have it.