We all remember what we were doing that day. I’m recalling my memories here for posterity.

I remember it was a Tuesday because it was payday and also the TR (Tuesday/Thursday) class schedule on campus. I left campus to go deposit my check at the bank. The car in front of me at the drive through was taking an inordinate amount of time. It wasn’t until my turn with the teller that I learned about the first plane hitting one of the twin towers. When I got back to the office it was during the second set of morning classes. Not many people knew yet what had happened. We all gathered around the tv in the lounge to watch about the terrible accident…..until the second plane hit and it became clear this was no accident. As word began to spread throughout the morning, the campus pretty much cleared out. Faculty were canceling classes, and the university closed mid-afternoon and cancelled all evening classes and events. We were supposed to play Florida that weekend at the swamp and the game was postponed until the first week of December*.

My daughter was enrolled at the University; we met at my car and drove to my son’s high school to pick him up. My then-husband was on a business trip and was stuck in Seattle for several days.

My niece’s engagement party was scheduled for later in September. In New Jersey. My in-laws and my sister-in-law, who both lived in Florida at the time, cancelled their trip to the party. I was the only one who came from out of town. I remember the landing approach into Newark I could see there was still smoke/pollution over Manhattan.

*We beat the Gators 34-32 at home in a nail biter game. My colleague and I were working that evening processing end-of-semester grades when we heard a dull roar. It was the sound of hundreds of students pouring into Neyland stadium to celebrate our first win in the swamp since 1971!!! We hung out the window from our office in Glocker and watched. It was a bit of nice news after the horrific events earlier.