Friday, September 9, 2011

Ten Years Ago . . .


Ten years ago this Sunday, America was rocked by one of the most shocking events to happen in my generation. There have been a lot of stories going around, retrospectives, people talking about where they were and what they were doing that fateful day. My story isn't harrowing or dramatic, but like many I will never forget how I experienced September 11, 2001.

I was home from college for the summer, asleep still at 9am that Tuesday morning. My mother came upstairs and opened my door to wake me, and I was understandably confused; usually she just let me sleep until I woke up on my own. But, she roused me by saying, "A plane just hit the World Trade Center in New York."

"What?"

"Somebody just flew a plane into the building."

I jumped out of bed and went downstairs, where the tv was on showing everything. I watched as the second tower was hit, live on television. I was absolutely, horrifically stunned. It was like it was happening somewhere else, in a movie.

I was supposed to spend the day with Tabitha; we had plans to go downtown and see a movie, go shopping, have lunch. Instead, people were advised to stay away from downtown Chicago, on the fears that the attacks weren't over. We went to our local theatre in Norridge, but it was closed too. Everything was closed; it was like a ghost town. We ended up back at her apartment, obsessively watching the news for every update.
Towards the end of the day, I remember laying on her couch watching CNN or something, and I saw members of Congress on the steps of the Capitol, holding hands and singing. I started to cry.

Even now, ten years later, even the memory of it makes my eyes fill with tears.

We will never forget. We will never be the same. But, God willing, it will never happen again.

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