Like my parents generation of recalling where they were when JFK was shot, I will always remember where and how I felt when first learning about an airplane hitting one of the World Trade towers. I had just dropped Greggy off at a McDonalds because a friend was picking him up to ride in to work together and I was on my way to school alone. Every morning I listened to stupid Howard Stern to give me a few laughs before heading in to class. This morning was no different until all of a sudden he said there was a report that a plane had hit one of the towers. At first, they thought it was an accident, but then the second one hit. I was so scared and didn't know what to do. I remember sitting in my car talking to my Dad and Greg on the phone and asking what was happening. My school was very close to an airport and I remember watching through my sunroof the planes landing one after another, after another. I went into school and everyone was standing in the hallways watching the t.v. After they started to realize it was some sort of terrorism attack I ran out of there scared to death and went home.
I have to be honest...I was only 20 years old and I had heard of terrorism, but really didn't understand what it meant until that day. I lived in the United States and didn't think anything like that would ever happen here...that crap only happened in far away places, right? I remember sitting with my Dad watching the news all day, crying because I didn't really understand what was going on and what it would mean for the future. I remember watching the towers crumble, people running...everyone was so confused and so many conflicting reports. Then hearing about the Pentagon and a plane going down in Pennsylvania. I feel like I grew up in a way that day that I can't really define...I've never looked at the world the same...I started paying much closer attention to the news and would come home every single day from work or school and the first thing I did was turn on the news.
I watched a lot of the coverage of the 10 year anniversary over the weekend and in a way it seems like it was just a year ago. It is beyond heartbreaking when you hear the stories of family members recalling the last moments that they talked to their families that were on the planes. Like the story of the people who were talking to their son and their daughter-in-law and their 2 1/2 year old little granddaughter who were on the plane who hit the second tower. Every time I see that little girls face I feel sick to my stomach and cry. I also think about how it started the war we are still in and I think about all of our troops fighting and all the ones who have lost their lives. I pray for everyone who was involved that day who lost their life, who lost a loved one, all of the volunteers that helped and for all the soliders who went to war. I also pray that we will never know this kind of loss again and pray that we are vigilant as a nation, so that my little guy will never have to "remember" a day like this. I know I will never forget September 11, 2001.
I think the new memorial is beautiful and would love to visit it one day.
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