It has been 13 years since the terrorist group al-Qaida killed almost 3,000 people in the Sept. 11 attacks.
The attacks occurred in New York City, Washington D.C. and Shanksville, Pennsylvania, but they affected people around the country.
Wanda McGatheran, Opelika resident, said 9/11 reminded her of another dark day in American history.
"I remember thinking this must be what my parents felt like during Pearl Harbor," McGatheran said. "This was the first time we had been attacked on American soil since that day."
McGatheran also said many local people feared for their loved ones' safety.
"There were a lot of people in and around Auburn who knew people in New York, and they didn't know if they had made it out until days later," McGatheran said.
According to McGatheran, the Auburn community came together in the wake of the attacks.
"There were lots of prayer vigils held," McGatheran said. "There were lots of first responders there. I think after that day, we started to take them a little less lightly. So many of them did not know it was a terrorist attack, but they still would've gone even if they did."
In December 2001, Esquire magazine published the article "162 Reasons It's Good to Be an American Man," by Charles P. Pierce in an attempt to boost morale.
The lemonade sold at Toomer's Drugs was No.1 on the list.
Pierce wrote of the lemonade, "When God was a little boy and He needed extra money, He put up a card table outside His folks' house. This is what He sold."Michelle and Michael Overstreet, Toomer's Drugstore managers, were in college in 2001.
"We were in college when it happened," Michelle said. "I was in class, and I didn't believe it when someone said a tower had fallen. I was almost in disbelief."
According to Michael, people were not sure how to respond to the news of the terrorist attack.
"I think for the first day or two, everyone was kind of in shock," Michael said.
Michael said he did not know about the Esquire article until one of his employees informed him.
"We ran out to get one, and wanted to make sure everyone we knew saw that what we were involved in was getting national attention," Michael said.
According to Michael, the article was the talk of the town.
"People would come in and say 'I saw y'all in a magazine,'" Michael said.
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