I was 19.

The day of, we were still calling my friend whose aunt and sister were living in NYC at the time (they were fine).

We were absolutely shocked. I remember, I had just gone to bed about two hours before it happened. I take heavy medication to sleep, so when my roommates burst in and said, "They bombed the World Trade Center," I was so woozy that I just figured it was another small bomb or something. He insisted that the World Trade Center was falling, etc. But I just thought he had to be overreacting. I had no idea what was going on. I woke up eight hours later and found out what really happened.

I was living about 30 minutes north of Dallas, Texas, at the time (still here). I didn't go into the city because Dallas has a World Trade Center. We didn't know what would happen.

My parents were back home in South Padre Island, Texas. Within a week of 9/11, a drunk/careless boat captain crashed into the only bridge inland. When the bridge went down (killing people), we had no idea if it was a careless accident or terrorists. We were suspicious of everything.

That's how it was for me.