story232.xml

story232.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-03-12

I had gotten up and I wasn't sure if I took a shower after or before, but I remember being in the dark in the kitchen. I didn't want my mom to turning on the lights because I just like the calm outside light. Anyways, she asked me why was it dark, but she just tapped on the lights and turned on the tv. I didn't know what it was. I couldn't believe the skyscrapers of the U.S. were hit. I just thought for some reason, that these people who hit the WTC were those who came to Seattle to protest. I don't know why I thought that, but that was because I never even thought there was a terrorist network or that they had anything to do with it until after the attacks. In a way I felt silly that I thought it was our own people hitting us, but there have been those who have been on our soil and from our land, blowing up buildings, (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma). It just seemed like a nightmare.
On my way to school, I listened to the radio, and it said that the first one went down and then a while later, the second one went. When I got to my photography class, we just watched the tv as we saw them repeatedly showing the planes, our planes, hitting our own buildings. It was amazing how many people shot photos that day in New York, I have to say. The school though, had us not watch all of it. I was thinking maybe they just didn't want us to be too upset, but they just wanted us to get back to normal. How can you? I mean these were lives and lives from all over the world. I never knew how connected we were with others. It's amazing how our world was so together in those buildings.
I just was thinking about the people in the planes and I just was thinking about those times I fly on planes like that and am just so lucky to survive and not be in crashes, like so many I have learned. When this happened, you just wanted to be there and just get up there, like the firemen did, and just not worry about hurting yourself, but getting those hurt out of there. You didn't want to even think that those who even jumped were gone. I even wondered why those who jumped, never thought of just sacrificing a leg or arm to just go down the stairs as fast as they could with that time that was hanging there.
When I came to classes later in the day, they were talking about some survivers, and some estimates of how many dead. It was just such a day for braveness, first the firefighters and construction people, Rudolph Giuliani for just taking his moms advice for just being strong in a difficult situations and just doing what he could do, Red Cross for trying to help those hurt, actors and just people being just couragous in helping out, and especially our President.
Once I got home I watched some more. Later on, I saw a woman just burst into tears about her seeing people jumping. Normally you wouldn't see office people jumping or anything like that, only in fims, especially when you're right there. The interviewer just held her and they both cried because the state of New York was in mourning as well as the rest of the U.S.. I just kept thinking about this attack and comparing it to December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor attack. I mean, I may not have been in that time period, but I can just feel the sorrow of those lost during that day and 9/11. Pearl Harbor wasn't on our soil, but on our men, and that to me is our soil, our people.
I just have to say that I am just so lucky to just be alive. I wish I could just go over to New York and just pull all those people out. I even saw the special "9/11" on CBS and that just was an amazing film. These two French film makers doing a documentry on FireHouse Department 7 (I believe) in New York and it's just amazing the footage and how close they all were in experiencing close to death. In the film, you could here huge poundings down in the lobby on the first tower after it was hit. The cameramen said that each time you heard the sound, it was somebody giving up their life. There were so many and I just can't amagine people doing that. Giving up.
No one gave up to try their best, and in using their dogs, which was just another sad thing to see, using them to find people.
Sorry I wrote it this long, but it's just how I feel being all the way accross the state in the same place, but in the west. I never knew I would live at 17, at the time, having this happen.
Come home, men and women fighting for us. Just do what you can and come home. I have to say this as well to everyone, just live your lives as much you can. Get to know some one. Make your life better for you and just realize what September 11th did to those who were the innocent and those who were just doing there jobs to save others.