Did anyone scrap 9/11 back when it happened?

No, not at the time. But I did complete a page for my DH’s military career album I just finished for his retirement. I included a picture of the local paper and some photos, along with our story ...I still can’t really talk about it without choking up 17 years later, since he was supposed to be flying that day in New York, and it took awhile to find out what kind of plane it was while I was at work.

I'm not really a current events scrapper either - I can only think of only a few such things I've scrapped - 9/11, the Columbia disaster (and by default, the Challenger as well - it was a combined layout - I watched them both live on TV), the death of Pope John Paul II (he was pope for almost all my life)...all events that deeply touched me for different reasons.

I did 1 page and it’s probably the only historical event I’ve ever scrapped. I haven’t seen that scrapbook in years. I’m now curious what I journaled. We had someone who was on the flight that crashed in Pennsylvania work in our town. They renamed the street where he worked and there are always flags and flowers in front of the building on 9/11. I’m pretty sure I took a picture of that.

I took a picture of my sweet little kids that day and made a page. There is a journaling block on it, and I could never come up with what I wanted to say. I counted my blessings on that painful day. Maybe I should say that!

I did. We had friends at the Pentagon when it happened, and there were other reasons that it was up close and personal for us.

It's still a hard layout to look at.

I finally got around to a page in the last year or two. I remember being glued to the TV that all that day, and every year on the anniversary I end up watching several specials on it. I figure years from now they will still be asking "where were you on 9/11" the way my parents generation remembers where they were on the day Kennedy was assassinated.

Oh and the waiting for survivors to be found. I think that was the most horrific part for me. Watching the tv crying as they looked for survivors in the rubble, and after 5 days of watching and crying, I had to get up to leave the house because it was too much to think about. All those people gone. Mothers and fathers and brothers and sisters, someone’s children. I still don’t have words.

I wasn't really scrapbooking yet at the time (I was a sophomore in High School), but I wish I had. I lived in California and had never been to New York so it all seemed so far away, but still scary and it still had an impact on my life. I wish now I could look back on my reflections at that time.

In 2010 I moved to Manhattan and lived only a mile away from the World Trade Center site. It was so different being so close, I saw photos of buildings on my block that had been covered in ash and photos of missing people, and met people who had friends and family that were directly impacted. Many of the friends I met in NYC were in high school/junior high at the time in NYC and they told me about what happened. I met people who literally walked out of NYC to get away from it. Now I live in upstate New York, but my employer actually had an office in the World Trade Center and we lost 40 employees that day.

I've also visited the memorial site and worked on Wall St. (literally on Wall St., not the type of employer you think when people say that though!) as they rebuilt the freedom tower and walked past the construction site daily.

Needless to say, my perception has evolved as I've seen what it was like to experience from afar and from close... but always as an American. I probably should scrap something about it now and write about my changing perspective. Thanks for the idea.

Hmmm, I recall starting to, and I also recall doing a lot of very emotional journaling, but not sure if I ever finished the page! That album is currently with my older DD, I'll have to take a look. I'd like to finish it now if it's unfinished.

I had a friend that was killed in Tower 1, so it's always an sad day for me, and not just for her, but for all who died so needlessly. I'm curious to see what memories that journaling will bring - thanks for starting this thread!

I did a multi page layout a couple of years after it happened, and journaled what my thoughts and feelings were that day, along with where I was and how the events unfolded for me that day. It took me a couple of years to sort out everything in my mind - what I wanted to say and what I remembered, and what the impact was of that day, and once it was scrapped, I was glad I had recorded that info for the future when my mind may not so vividly recall all of what I was feeling and thinking at that time.