9/11

On 9/11/01, I was on my way to my morning college class and then I would be heading over to the nearby school to put in some teaching practicum hours. I turned the radio on in my car and some guy was talking about airplanes hitting buildings in New York, and I thought, "What the hell? This has gotta be fake." I flipped to another radio station only to find that ALL of them were reporting on the twin towers being hit. I walked into my classroom and it was dead silent. People were gazing off with the hollow, distant look of confusion, fear, and sadness. I remember my professor getting up in front and trying to start class, but within 15 minutes, it was clear our minds were elsewhere. He dismissed us and sent us home.

I still did not really grasp what the situation was, but I remember later that night, the full force hitting me as I watched the video clips of the planes hitting the towers, another one slamming into the pentagon, and one burning in that field in Pennsylvania.

I remember the goosebumps rising on my skin and crawling to the back of my neck as the video footage played over and over again on my television screen. Later in the darkness of my bedroom, it would play over and over again in my mind. Part of what hit me the hardest was that an attack was actually happening right here in America. But another part of me thought, "So this is what it feels like to be all those other countries."

Let's remember those in America who have been impacted by the attacks of 9/11. But let's also remember those all over the world for whom war and attacks are a regular part of life.