WTC--I lived in San Francisco, so this happened very early in the morning for us. My husband was making coffee and called down to me to tune in CNN on the bedroom TV. I knew immediately this was no small matter and possibly deliberate, and I was scared. When the second plane hit, I knew we were under attack and feared for my son, who teaches in a heavily Jewish school district, my daughter, who lived just over the river from Boston, my nephew, a student at NYU, and the coming fate of the world. I called my parents and brothers--although they're East Coasters, and big bro lives close to NYC, they heard the news from me. My nephew and his dorm-mates walked toward the site from their dorm not far away. My brother the dentist identified a couple of dead people via dental records. So much for the theory that Jews were warned--they were Jewish and worked in the towers.
Challenger--I was at work at a small consulting and training company, and a class was being held on-site. Someone in the class called his office during break, found out, and informed everyone. I felt very sad--I always followed the space missions and was familiar with the names and backgrounds of those aboard.
Kennedy assasination--I was a 9th grader. We were in our homerooms waiting to go to a pep rally, when the principal announced over the PA that the President had been shot. Cynic as I was at 14, I presumed it was probably a flesh wound and after a few days of hubbub, all would be as it was. Our assembly was cut short, and we were led back to our homerooms. The princiapl came back on the PA to announce that President Kennedy was dead, and the buses were being brought out early to take us home. One boy, who was fatherless and identified strongly with JFK, was crying in the hall. We were a liberal suburb of NYC, the children of mostly Kennedy supporters. It felt like the end of history--and part of history, too, as we had of course learned about the assassinations of other presidents and Archduke Ferdinand. My mother was home from work early. She had jsut washed her hair and I put it up in rollers. An event almost as rare as a US Presidential assisnation occurred: we were allowed to watch TV on a school night. We also had no school the next day--maybe a couple of days. My borhters & I watched TV all day and saw Jack Ruby kill Lee Harvey Oswald live on TV. It seemed like the world was losing its mind.
