During your lifetime there aren’t many dates that you can remember exactly where you were and what you were doing.

I’m not talking about wedding(s) and the birth of children – but major worldwide events.

For me there are only a couple.

September 11th 2001:  I was at work at the Head Office of the aerospace company that I’d joined 10 days before.  The FD’s wife was at home, and after the first plane hit the twin towers, she called him to tell him what had happened.  He, I and another colleague then turned on the TV in the Boardroom and watched the news unfold in horror – witnessing the second plane hit.  My husband was having lunch in the Sports Bar on Broad Street in Birmingham.  We could instantly be transported back to that time when asked. This was highlighted when we took the kids to the 9/11 Memorial Museum in New York this summer – memories for us – and history for the kids.  Although one of the September 11th stories that I’ve read a couple of times – and still makes me weep tears of joy, contrary to most, is from Tara over on the Sticky Fingers Blog ( http://www.thestickyfingersblog.com/2011/09/are-we-the-only-one-with-fond-memories-of-911.html) – you will not be able to read it without crying!!

The other, for me, is 31 August 1997 –  the day Diana died – and highlighted with all of the current 20th anniversary programmes.  I was on the West coast of Scotland staying in Largs with my first husband – visiting the Isle of Cumbrae, where I used to holiday as a child (and where I took my second husband and kids last year!) We’d gone to bed after watching Scottish Match of the Day (possibly one of the most pointless programmes ever at that point – Rangers and Celtic would win every week) and at breakfast the next morning were told that she’d been in a car crash in Paris.  We caught the ferry over to Millport and cycled around the island – and at each pitstop (Fintry Bay being the one that sticks in my head the most) the news was on TV and it was evident she was dead.  It was before 24 hours news was a real ‘thing’ and so the fact that all of the TV and radio channels stopped normal service was unusual.

For my Dad, the day of Diana’s funeral the following weekend would also be memorable.  He was driving down the motorway on the way to a trade fair in London and got stopped for exceeding 100 mph on the empty M40! (He subsequently got off with 6 points and a fine – not sure if that was due to his reason for speeding being that he needed the toilet – and after the policeman had finished with all the forms, Dad went in to the loos at the services just to prove a point!!)

So, where were you on 9/11 and when Diana died?