Editorial: September 11 terror attack was 'where was I moment?' that changed the world

The remains of the World Trade Centre amid the debris in New York. Photo / AP

I think I've always been fascinated with things that are not really conceivable. Like infinity or the speed of light or death.

I mean, I know what they are, I can describe them in words, but I cannot fully wrap my head around what it actually means. I don't think any of us can.

Dad had been listening to the radio that morning, and when I woke and went into the kitchen, he said planes had flown in to some buildings in America.

That's my 'where was I?' 9/11 story.

I was 13 years old and getting ready for another day at intermediate school. Most of us were doing something equally mundane.

But the mundanity was rocked as soon as we saw the graphic images coming through the TV.

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As Whanganui resident and New York ex-pat Kathy Cunningham says in our story marking the 20th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks: "I will never, ever, in a million years forget that moment."

None of us will.

The footage of planes flying into those buildings.

The smoke billowing into a sunny morning sky.

The President having the news whispered in his ear in a classroom not dissimilar to the one I spent that day in.

The sheer amount of rubble that rained down on one of the most recognisable cities in the world.

They were images of chaos, absolute destruction, death and terror.

Fire and smoke billows from the north tower of New York's World Trade Centre. Photo / AP

We spent the day at school watching the coverage on TV and each day, for weeks after, I cut out every newspaper article about the attacks and pasted them in a scrapbook (I suppose it's no surprise I've ended up in this career).

The whole thing was utterly inconceivable but that didn't stop me trying to wrap my head around it.

I don't think I've got there yet.

Twenty years on we can reflect on the lives lost, the political impact and the consequences still being felt.

But that real world stuff is for people who were more immediately impacted and people with more expertise than me.

For most of us in New Zealand who woke up to the news, and went about our day, we will be thinking back to that "where was I?" moment and what it meant for us.

I suppose after September 11, 2001, the world seemed a bit more vulnerable. It takes a bit more to be shocked now.

Most of us will never fully comprehend what happened that day - but we know the world wasn't the same after.