story3101.xml

story3101.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

The day began like any other, arising far too early for my taste and making the trek to Chemistry, far too achedemic in curiculum for the wee hours of the morning. Class began as usual, and the familiar ring of our teacher's cell phone sounded. As she intently listened to her caller, we watched the expression on her face change from fatigued and overworked to shocked and devestated. The caller had actually been a close friend who resides in New York calling to inform her of his whereabouts and that he was not in any extreme danger due to the terrorist attacks of that morning.

Up until that point, there was not a soul in the room who had heard a single comment on the horrific events that had taken place on that fateful morning. At that moment, none of us truely realized the extraordinary impact these events would have on the lives of so many, personally, nationally, and world-wide. All I knew at that moment was that the World Trade Center had been attacked, that each Twin Tower had been struck by a commercial airplane. (I, unfortunately, was informed of the first plane's crash simultaneously with the second plane's crash.)

Instead of encouraging the investigation of any details whatsoever of that morning, we were forced to return to the everyday activities of a "normal" school day, stifling all curiosity we had. The school officials claimed this was too traumatic an event to be wittnessing at school, that many students would feel far too uncomfortable and would prefer to wait until they were in the comforts of their own homes to investigate the situation any further. To some, this is perfectly valid, however, the day seemed endless, and I could hardly bear learning of these life-altering events through rumors and word of mouth by means of what my friends were previewed to by the few teachers who disobeyed the principal's orders. I wanted to know who committed these horrific acts of violence against innocent civilians, what motives they had, and what the reprocussions were thus far. Few of my questions could actually be answered until much later, but I needed and yearned for some connection to New York; I wanted to actually see what was happening.

When I got home, the aftermath of September 11th was not very different from most anyone else's. I am fortunate enough to not know personally anyone who passed away due to the terrorist attacks. However, I sympathized and empathized with all who had any remote connection to any victims. I would find myself bawling in the car as I listened to the radio, where the announcer was revealing yet another story of an email a son received from his father on the 82nd story of the second Twin Tower, reading something to the effect of "If I dont make it, I want you to know I love you and am so incredibly proud of everything you do." These heartwrenching stories were endless, one after the other, each unique in who it affected and how they would confront their emotions. Yet, these events bound everyone together. The nation as a whole mourns for the civilians, firefighters, police men, emergency workers, and vollunteers who tragically lost their lives. We want to be able to say that we can return to normalcy; however after a tragedy such as this normalcy will never be the same again. We will all remember where we were on the morning of September 11th. It is sad to admit that it took a something of this magnitude to arise within us such national pride and sympathy for the common man. However, now that it has happened, all we can do now is prevent anything like this from happening again.

I want anyone directly affected by the attacks of 9-11 to know that no matter how hard life seems, and how much they question why it had to happen to them, the rest of us are experiencing the pain and suffering with them. Though it may not be the most noteworthy account or the most elequently written, I want to dedicate my story to the memory of all those who tragically lost their lives on September 11, 2001. I will never forget you.