My hope is that we can avoid hot button issues like foreign policy, religion, gun control, etc. (save that for the CB) and instead give anyone who wants to share their story a place to post it
I'll share my story, which all things considered is pretty tame...
I currently work in California, but spent most of the past decade in Philladelphia. Many of my college friends are working in NYC, and my girlfriend's parents live in upstate NY. I took the afternoon off of work and shortly after I got home, learned that my closest college friends were all ok (although some did get covered in ash/dust while evacuating the city.) My girlfriends parents were nowhere near the city, though they do have a friend who is currently unaccounted for.
My graduating class (University of Pennsylvania '97) flocked to NYC, so I am still bracing for the news that one of my classmates didn't make it....
-Blake