story10562.xml

story10562.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2004-04-28

My memory is a bit foggy, but I remember the majority of what went on this day. On the day of September 11, 2001 I slept through my alarm clock and woke up around 9:15am. I had a 10am class that day and being a commuter there was only time for a 10 second shower, a quick bite to eat, no phone call to mom, no contact with retired step dad, and out the door I went. During my freshman year in the Fall 01? semester I was really good about getting to class on time but something in my mind must have triggered myself to stay in bed a little longer. Due to my lateness I started the car pop in my 2001 graduation mix in my CD player and jammed on the way to school. While fighting for a spot in the A parking lot and winning, I quickly popped out the CD and put it away and heard on the radio, ?A third plane just crashed into the Pentagon?. In my rushed state I just laughed thinking that it was a joke that HOT 99.5 was making and hauled ass to class.

I did not think anything of the radio announcement because I honestly wanted to make it to class on time. When I entered the Johnson Center, the center of our campus, I was distracted by the amount of silence in the building. The Johnson Center is an area of socialization; most of the time people can?t hear what other people are saying, but this day was not the same; it was quite in the building. I took the elevator up to the 3rd floor, and ran into class to find that there were only 6 other people sitting at the table. I saw Prof. Williams crying and staring at the TV. My heart sunk when I saw the tears come from her eyes, because I had no idea what was happening. Questions like, ?why was she crying? What is happening?? were racing through my head. I then got a glimpse of the news broadcast on the TV. There it was a replay of what had just happened but an hour earlier, the second plane crashing into the Twin Towers. After that replay the news showed what had happened only 15 minutes before class began, the Pentagon being hit by another plane.

I sat down and just continued to watch what was going on. Students in class were in as much shock as I, no one said a word. I felt like I completely dismissed God?s message to me when I ignored the radio announcement earlier. I felt like he was trying to tell me ahead of time, but I wasn?t listening, I was just thinking of getting to class. I felt awful for putting something so important aside and putting myself first. Later I heard that at about 10:15am a fourth plane crashed somewhere in PA. Where are these planes coming from? I could feel my heart pumping as if I was going to do something to stop this. Fear was building up; I was scared that there would be planes attacking all over the states. I was wondering where would the fifth plane go?

Shortly after the news about the Pentagon it really hit me, these attacks were too close to home, too close to where my mom works. I jumped up from my chair with my cell phone and began calling my mothers office. No answer. Again I punished myself, for waking up late and not thinking to call her before I left. That was our regular routine, I call her before I leave to tell her the plans for the day, whether I will be home for dinner or not and so forth. This didn?t happen, the routine was broken along with our Nation?s innocence. I felt so much weight on my shoulders, what if my mom had a meeting in the Pentagon today? Why was she not answering her phone? Did they evacuate her office building?

I had no strength to walk back into class, I was afraid to see what else could have happened. Luckily nothing else did, but what was done was enough to make anyone go mad. Millions of people were killed; no one knew that the day would start like this. I did not know that morning when I woke up late the first plane crashed into the first tower in New York City. I felt out of place, it was the unknown that scared me; it was unexpected, no warning, a sneak attack. Then I made my second attempt to call my mother. No answer. I called the house and no answer. I was like ?Oh my God, is everyone gone and Mason is the only place still standing?? I remembered my parents always saying ?stay where you are and we will find you?. This was the way my sister and I were supposed to do things in case of emergencies. I hated this, but I stayed where I was. I continued dialing her number and my house, and it soon became a pool of busy signals.

I decided to grab my things and leave class, I did not want to watch or hear anymore of this until I knew my family was ok. I was not too concerned about my father, he was in Paraguay, South America at the time and I just assumed since I didn?t hear anything about other countries being under attack I felt he was ok. However I was concerned about my step mom who was pregnant and worked in Arlington. No answer there either. I decided to call my boyfriend?s mother Sherry, just to talk to someone, she was like a second mother to me, and I felt I would feel safe if I spoke with her. She answered and immediately told me that my mother was ok and that the TV broadcasters just announced that the Government was let out and she was on her way home.

I was relieved, my mother was ok; she is the most important thing in my life and for me to hear those words that she was on her way home made my heart begin to calm down. I was able to think a bit clearer. Sherry told me my mother knew I would be calling her, when my mother couldn?t get a hold of me she called Sherry. I believe I must have worried about every single member in my family before I stopped to think that people I didn?t know were dying and other people were searching for their loved ones too.

I do not remember how my sister got home, or if I even spoke with her that day, but my immediate family was safe and sound later that afternoon. I do not remember how I drove home, but I remember people on the radio speaking of how this was a sneak attack by some terrorist group, called Al Qaeda. I felt so unsafe in my own country. I felt that terrorism just didn?t happen in our country, but yet it did. It became even more real when I got home and watched more TV. It became clear and real when I saw a replay of people jumping out of windows at the Twin Towers so they wouldn?t burn to death. It became real when the President spoke to the Nation and said, ?Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts?. This was real; I no longer lived in this ideological world of good and no evil. I saw it with my own eyes that this can happen in my lifetime, which it did happen. I always had this naive idea that nothing could happen to me or my country that I was always safe, that these certain historical things only happened in the past. I was living the tragic part of history that I never thought I would experience.

For the next week or so all people could do was watch TV, to see if anything new would develop. I couldn?t, I didn?t want to see anymore. I was scared, were these people going to come back and attack again. My boyfriend Chris, at the time, would just sit in front of the TV watching all of the replays over and over again. Wasn?t it enough to see it the first 5 times? I think that Chris too was in shock and didn?t want to believe it so he had to watch it all over again. Like most people in our Nation we knew this was tragic and many people dealt with it in different ways, I for one wanted nothing to do with it except pray for those who died and those who lost loved ones. I was grateful that I had my family and that people I knew were safe and sound.