I was putting my dirty coffee mug into the kitchen sink, about to leave home for a Luverne Economic Development Authority meeting. At that time, the number "nine-eleven" meant nothing, and al Queda wasn’t even pronounceable.It was 8:46 a.m., Sept. 11, 2001, in New York City when the World Trade Center, North Tower, was struck between the 93rd and 99th floors by the hijacked Boeing 767, American Airlines Flight No. 11. I clicked off The Today Show and grabbed my purse, locking the door, and I remember being curious about what Matt Lauer had just said — something like, "It’s almost like that couldn’t happen without a pilot trying to hit it."I drove on to LEDA that morning, where even the pop music station on my car stereo was airing news. I wasn’t sure exactly what kind of "accident" occurred, I’d catch up on the news later. At 9:03 a.m., New York time, a hijacked Boeing 767, United Airlines Flight No. 175, crashed into the South Tower.Then, at 9:37 a.m., American Airlines Flight No. 77 flew into the Pentagon.At 10:03 a.m. in the Northeast, United Airlines Flight No. 93 dove to the ground near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.At about that time, I was in a Rock County Commissioners meeting where the preliminary levy was set at a 3-percent increase.Later that afternoon, after I watched footage of people jumping to their death to avoid being burned alive, the Luverne City Council decided to put the former Britz house at the corner of Main and Highway 75 up for sale to be moved.People who escaped the buildings alive later told of horrors inside. I remember a man telling a live broadcaster on a New York street how badly he felt that he and others trying to save themselves left behind a man in a wheelchair.That day 2,749 died at the World Trade Center and another 184 were killed in the Pentagon.Today, cancer and chronic illnesses plague surviving rescue workers who labored in toxic air and debris. At least 2,670 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in 2003.How we remember Sept. 11 and what happened afterward is different for all of us. After five years, the intense fear and initial sadness is slipping. Some people are now irritated by stories of 9/11 widows and widowers getting millions in fund-raisers and government payments while other single parents across the country struggle on their own.Faith in security in general isn’t what it used to be. Others are just plain tired of security measures that are supposed to make us feel safe, such as in airports, but which investigative reporters are able to breach. How to battle terrorist groups, and whether entire nations should be named enemies is under debate.As for me, I remember a few specific things from 2001: I bought my first house, Alicia Keys debuted an awesome CD; Shrek, Hannibal and Bridget Jones’ Diary were in theaters; and four airplanes were turned into the only weapons of mass destruction that have hit the U.S.