Because we received so many responses to our request for stories of where readers were on Sept. 11, 2001, we could not fit all of them into the printed paper. We wanted to include as many as we could, so the following are the stories that did not appear in print.

“I was talking with a co-worker when an attorney yelled, ‘My friend said a plane just hit one of the Twin Towers in New York.’ We did not think the incident was serious — just an inexperienced operator. Approximately three minutes later, the same attorney said, ‘This is serious!’ We began to panic. My former boss walked into the office with his wife and said, ‘A second plane just hit the other Twin Towers and I am closing the office for the day. Please drive safely home and please be careful!’
“First, I tried to call my husband but the telephone lines were dead, then I tried to e-mail him but the Internet connection failed. Next, I tried to call my children’s school but the wireless connection failed. I left work, picked up my children and went home. While at home, we watched the breaking news on television. My stomach was so upset. My children were scared, but did not clearly understand what was happening. I eventually was able to connect with my other family members and my husband. It was an unsettling and surprising day.
“While traveling home, the roads were clear and the sun was shining bright. I will never forget that moment in time.”

— Charmaine Butler, Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads, Philadelphia

“I had the day off from work, and was walking the Spring Lake boardwalk along the Jersey shore with my 1-year-old twin boys asleep in a stroller. I recall how gorgeous the sky was, so clear. I thought to myself how lucky I was to have this perfect day off. The ocean was calm but had huge rollers, and I knew the surfers had picked a great day as well. I am quite sure if I had looked north up the beach, I would have seen the smoke drifting south from the World Trade Center.
“I heard on the radio that a plane hit the Twin Towers, and when I returned home the news showed the second plane crash and the destruction in New York City and Washington, D.C. I sat in shock watching, pulling my sons closer to me, thinking of the children that would be losing a parent that day.
“It didn’t sink in until my husband came home from work before lunchtime. He was visibly upset, as he had been working on top of the FBI building in Newark and witnessed the whole thing from across the river. The planes, the towers billowing smoke … and then they were gone. We both knew so many people working in the city; we feared it was likely someone we knew had perished.
“The next morning, we learned that our good friend’s husband, Jimmy McAlary, was lost. Jimmy unfortunately had a meeting on one of the top floors of the towers that day. Our small town of Spring Lake Heights lost three people on Sept. 11, and it will never be the same.
“Now, as I witness Jimmy’s children growing into fine young adults and heading off to college, I know that after 10 years, they have grown up just the way he would have wanted them to: strong, intelligent and caring. The Sept. 11 anniversary is a day of sadness and remembrance. But for me, it is a day of hope. That three young adults who lost their father will persevere knowing they were loved unconditionally, and still are. And as I hug my children for the millionth time since that day, I have hope that they will come to appreciate all that we lost on Sept. 11, and all that we still have.”

— Kerry J. Morgan, Dilworth Paxson, Neptune, N.J.