story5269.xml

story5269.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

I woke up, just like every other Tuesday morning that semester. 9:05. Running late, as usual, I ran out the door as quickly as possible, no time to check the weather channel (leaving myself still oblivious to the events). I caught the last bus. I arrived just as class was about to start. 9:35. This class often had movie clips and other presentations, so, as I walked in, I didn?t think anything of the movie-like appearance of the classroom. I struggled up the stairs of the lecture hall and found a seat. After a few seconds of looking at the screen, I turned to my neighbor and poked him. I said, ?Hey, what movie is this from?? He turned to me, shocked and silent. After a moment he said that a plane had just flew into the World Trade Center. The World Trade Center? Before that unforgettable day, the only memory I had of it was the hour-long bus tour of NYC I took on a choir trip I took in high school. I remember passing it and seeing all the flags. Now it?s gone.

We watched the TV the entire class period. 10:45. I caught the next bus home. As I was going home, the bus driver had the radio on. I heard from the radio that another plane had crashed. I thought, oh-no, hadn?t we had enough for one day. The fourth plane had crashed outside Pittsburg. My heart stopped. My roommate?s family was from there.

First thing that I did, when I got home, was try to call my friend that goes to school in New York. I couldn?t get through, the telephone lines were jammed. Thankfully, I found that she had left an away message to tell everyone to turn on their TVs so I knew she was ok.

Seeing the images on the TV, I was deeply saddened. It was hard, at first to realize, as I watched the tours collapse, that thousands of lives were being lost. A person is dwarfed in comparison to the giant presence of those buildings. The images were so much like the movies I had seen. A mixture of panic and curiosity filled the faces of the people as they fled the dust and debris. As I watched the TV, I found my self talking to them, telling them to run, just like you do for the movie characters.

Such a strange sight it was to see the masses fleeing New York by foot. There were business people walking along side a group of elementary school students. The teachers like mother ducks. You could see them as they were trying to be brave for their students. Hiding the horror and fear that you knew everyone was feeling.

My roommate walked into the apartment. She is panic-stricken. She tried for hours to get though to her family at home. I feel helpless trying to comfort her. Later that night we find out that her family is safe, and her cousin, who is on a lay-over in NYC from his job as a flight attendant at United, had decided to sleep-in instead of visiting the sky deck of the WTC that morning. We all breathe a deep sigh of relief.

I found myself mysteriously hooked to the TV for the rest of the night. I needed to know what was going on, any new information. It was like an addiction. I watched as they replayed the images over and over again. I think I was numb. I didn?t cry that day. It took a few days for it to sink in. Now every time I see those images. I break down.

The next morning I awoke to the realization that I had to fly home that Friday. I feel that the president?s words were very important. He said that we need to get back to ?business as usual? as quickly as possible, because if we live our lives in fear then the terrorists have won. That gave me bravery and internal strength. I can?t let them win.

I was on the first plane out of Indianapolis after the ban on flights was lifted. What was normally a pretty full flight was now mostly empty. It was then that I started to realize that the repercussions of the sorrow-full day would go far beyond the grief and destruction at ground-zero.