9/11

 

Today is the 14th anniversary of when the Twin Towers in New York were hit. I can't believe that it's been that long, sometimes only seems like it happened yesterday.

I had written down my feelings years ago in my personal journal about this day, but I wanted to write them down here again reflecting back on that day. I want my kids to know where I was and feeling the day it happened.

I'm not very good at words, so here goes.

The morning it happened, I was getting ready for school. I was listening to the radio when all of a sudden one of the radio announcers said that one of the Trade Center Towers in NY was hit by a plane. At first I thought that he was joking, b/c that's type of person he was. What a thing to joke about? Was the thought that came to mind. I finished getting ready and headed off to school.

When I got to the institute building, one of my friends quickly motioned me to the TV that had been turned on in the common room. And there one the screen was a burning building with an airplane sticking out of it. One of the institute teachers was glued to the screen with the remote still in his hands.

My friend was speechless, even for her. I sat down with my backpack still on also glued to the screen. So many thoughts were going through my mind. Who did this? Why would they do this? I can't believe what I'm seeing. All those people in those buildings, how were they going to get out? The country was in chaos so to speak.

As people trickled in they too stopped to look at the TV. As my the time drew near for my first morning class I really didn't want to leave for fear I would miss something. But nonetheless I headed off to class. As I sat down in class still in somewhat of shock, my teacher walks in with a somber look on her face. She turns to us and said that she will be cancelling class today so that we can all process and reflect on what has happened and some of my classmates had family in NY and were anxious to know if they were all right. She dismissed us.

All my classes were cancelled that day. So I returned to the institute building to watch more of what was going on. I didn't want to leave. I wanted to comfort my friends who were worried about their family members who lived near the towers.

We all talked with each. Speculating why something like this would happen. Then at the bottom of the screen a banner appeared saying that another wreckage was found of another downed plane that was part of the attack, and another that had hit the Pentagon. At this point there are 4 planes that were used for this attack. 1 for each of the towers, 1 for the Pentagon and another that headed to another federal building that was taken off course by the passengers.

It was just so heartbreaking to her that more people had to die for someone's evil attack. The buildings were slowly melting and you could hear the cries of those stuck on the top floors that had no way out.

Then all of a sudden the one of the tower gives in and collapses. Then several minutes later the 2nd one falls. You can see the huge cloud of dust and debris rise up! People are seen running away. Some of those who were trying to help also lost their lives when the building collapsed.

As the morning progressed I knew that I still had to go into work that day. I really didn't want to. As I walked in the door,  my supervisor said that she had been trying to call me all morning, knowing that I was school. My phone never rang, maybe she had been calling my home line? She said that they were sending everyone home with pay to process the loss and the attack. I didn't even sit down or turn on my computer. I turned around and walked back out the door. As I headed home my heart was heavy. So many lives were taken. We still didn't have any answers.

I got home and my Grandma and aunt had the TV on and they were watching the news. We were all awestruck by this.

Now flash forward 14 years. Those buildings were never rebuilt, instead a memorial was built in their place.

 

Matt had the opportunity to visit the memorial in July while he was back east for work training. He said it's a beautiful place. He said you can feel the peace that comes from it.

 

The country still talks about it as if it just happened. Just like the attack on Pearl Harbor, it's day that we will never forget.