How old were you on 9/11 and what do you remember about that day?

[Maravillosa]

I was 34 and about to start my second year of grad school. I slept in late (till about 10:30 AM Pacific, 1:30 PM in New York) and I think that at first, the significance of the event glided over my head. I had planned to take public transportation to the university where I was enrolled and spend the day reading in the library, but my mother convinced me that that would not be a good idea. So I spent the day at home, watching TV in shock.

 

[The Blackangel]

I was 20. Iwas in the process of getting clean after 2 years of doing about every drug imaginable. I was watching TV with my grandmother when the broadcast was interrupted for a news emergency. We watched the first tower smoking and then saw the second plane fly into the second tower. I remember hearing the screaming from people in the streets over the broadcast. I remember hearing the roar of the tower collapsing. And it feels like it was only 30 minutes later that the conspiracy theories were out. I don't remember much else.

 

[VincentValentine]

I was in high school. We watched live coverage of the shit in French class and social studies. After school that day, there was mad traffic throughout the city, long lines at the gas station, and radio dj's were yelling at everyone to calm the down.

That's interesting seeing how everyone on here was at different stages of life at that time.

 

[Tragoedia Vitae]

I was only four years old at the time, so I don't remember what it was like. I honestly have absolutely no recollection of that day. I didn't even learn about 9/11 (much less grasp its significance) until a few years later...no idea how that happened.

 

[your pathologist]

I was 6.

(Some background information: My stepmom and I would get up early during the weekdays and stop at Tim Hortons and then head over to her friend's house to eat breakfast and have coffee, and then her friend's son and I would go to school together from there.)

Anyways, I was getting ready for school... it must have been about 6am here. My dad and stepmom had the news on, and I just remember hearing, "Oh. My. GOD" come from the living room. I went into the living room and looked at the TV and I just saw a building completely engulfed in smoke and flames. I didn't understand the significance of the buildings, I didn't know what the World Trade Centre was, I didn't know what terrorism was... I just knew that whatever I was looking at, it was BAD. At the time, the adults just described it to me as, "Bad people took over some planes and crashed them into buildings." I also remember it being busy as all hell in Vancouver because a lot of planes were being re-directed to Canadian airports.

I remember seeing the newspaper cover images of the planes crashing into the towers, the emergency services outside the pentagon, the people falling from the buildings, etc. and one particular day after looking at the pictures in the newspaper, I asked my mom why it happened. I'll never forget the look she gave me when she said, "I don't know."

I think 9/11 was my first real, hard glimpse into how terrifyingly ugly humanity/the world could really be.

My experience is very similar to yours seeing as I was also 6.
I was in first grade
I was living in Woonsocket Rhode Island.
Our area was pretty close to NYC, so we were sent home from school early. If I remember it happened around 9 am. So i remember getting to school, and promptly being sent home. I was so young i was just happy to be home.
My dad was an ex veteran of the US Army and actually ended up reenlisting shortly afterwards

 

[LegaliseIt!]

I was 37. We were on a houseboat on a lake in British Columbia. We didn't find out what happened until 4 days later! No TV, Radio, etc. Best place to be while everyone was freaking out.

 

[mediocre]

I was only 7 and didn't realize it happened until about 12. I have a better memory of the London bombings in the summer of 2005. I remember I was at my grandmother's house and it was on tv.

 

[Deleted member 1465]

I was 31 and at work on a local UK newspaper. It was weird af horrible to see but journalists live for a story. We put put an extra edition that day. No cats up trees stories just all 911. Some things are bigger than whatever we were originally paid to do. It was a buzz to be in the office that day as it was all hands to the pump, but very weird when the dust settled and we stopped to consider what happened. And ofc that picture of the falling man. Gruesome but compelling. Just odd.
Later, they conscripted volunteer archaeologists to help excavate ground zero. I considered signing up for that in an effort to help.

 

[Squiddy]

I was only 2 years old

 

[OreoWellington]

I was in 4th grade and I apologize for my stupid mind at the time, but I saw "no big deal" out of it because there were first responders (firefighters, paramedics, etc.) coming to save the day and I thought "everything was going to be okay". Like it was just another sad tragedy that occurs in everyday life, so what makes this any different or special kind of thinking. I was the girl who was "out of touch with reality" and "in my own little world", so things that would otherwise normally catch people's attention did not for me.
But obviously, now I know differently. That for many people, this did have lasting and damaging consequences that it carries with them to this day. I got to read more about it as I got older and put things more into perspective and try to imagine it.

 

[cherub]

I was three and don't remember jack.

 

[peacefully31425]

I was sitting on the floor of the living room while watching SpongeBob. My parents walked in to change the channel and we spent the day in front of the TV. It was very surreal.

 

[Meretlein]

I was a few months old.

 

[Moonicide]

I was 11 years old. We got sent home early from school due to it.