There have been 2 days like that in my lifetime. Turning point days, milestone days. Days where something so significant happened you know you will always remember where you were when you first heard the news. One was Friday November 22, 1963. I was in my 6th grade elementary school class. The other was Tuesday, September 11, 2001.

I was turning into the corporate park where our offices were located when the first plane hit. The initial reports were ambiguous - it was a small plane, no it was a jet, it was a terrible accident, no we aren't sure...
I recall having an immediate sensation that it was no accident and much worse than the first reports indicated.

We all clustered int one manager's office who had a TV and stood glued to the reports - but with one eye looking out the 3rd floor windows. Why? Because at the time, the NASDAQ exchange was located in the building across the street. So while we were watching the second plane hit and the subsequent collapse of the first tower, National Guard units were pouring into the office park. The were setting up huge concrete barricades, capable of stopping truck bombs, and anti-aircraft guns on the roof of the NASDAQ building. Plus multiple soldiers armed with heavy weaponry. It was a surreal sight. Soon afterwards, the military ordered the evacuation of the office park. With only one road out, and that narrowed by barricades, it took us hours to leave.

In the 19 years since that day, there have been voices who have minimized the event. It is not my point to engage in that debate, so if you want to suggest 9/11 was inconsequential relative to other happenings around the world before and after, please just ignore this post. To those of us who live in the Northeast and know someone who lost their lives that day, it is not inconsequential. It is a day we will never forget.

So, where were you when you first heard the news, 19 years ago today?