story1568.xml

story1568.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-08-30

I remember waking up and starting my day as normal to get ready to go to the university. As always, I was running a little behind and became annoyed when the telephone rang knowing it would be my mother asking some trivial question. As soon as I answer the phone, my mom tells me to turn on the TV to a local news station and that a building in New York was just attacked. Grapping the remote and watching the scene unfold before my eyes, I stood stunned unable to believe my eyes thinking this could not be happening. My mom and I stayed on the phone together listening to the deathly silence on the other end of the line with an occasional gasp of disbelief. Then when the second plane plowed into the next building, I thought I would stop breathing as I imagined hundreds of people dying instantly. My heart ached and tears flowed as I tried to imagine who would want to do this unbelievable act. After finally whispering a goodbye to my mom and telling her I loved her, I hung up the phone and finished getting myself and my son ready for school. When I finally got to my class, the TV was on CNN and they had just announced that the first World Trade Tower had collapsed. It was a nightmare watching people run and hearing the screams of the residents as the world around them came falling down all around. Tears streamed down my face as I watched the second tower come down and I asked myself again why and who would do this. I think the day after was more tramatic for me as I listened to the death tally and I stayed home that day with my son unable to let him out of my sight. I still have a hard time looking at the pictures and wonder if the fear will ever leave me.