nmah4149.xml

nmah4149.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

I remember being in art class when my friend walked into the room and said, "Did you hear? Did you hear what happened?" Responding with an eye roll, I figured it would be about another break-up between a friend and her boyfriend. She had a look of worry and seriousness in her eyes and I knew, at that moment, that something was defintely wrong. The rest of the day was a blur, from watching television at school to later that night at home with feelings of fear and anger in the pit of my stomach. With dead phone lines into New York City, my family was unable to find out if my aunt, uncle, and cousin were okay in Manhattan. I did not understand the severity of this event until it threatened the people I love.

September 11, 2001 caused me to take a closer look at my life as well as life in general. A year later, I rarely take anything for granted; you never know the true meaning of something until it is taken away.

I think that we should all remember September 11, 2001 as a terrible day in which many innocent lives were wrongly taken. Although, through all of the sadness, we should remember the strength and pride that this country had during a time of such great turmoil.

When I got home from school that Tuesday afternoon, I helped my mother dig out the American flag that we had, sitting in our laundry room collecting dust. We normally only put it out around the time of Independence Day, but as of today, it has been on our porch for a whole year.

I now look at the American flag in a new light; I see it as a strong symbol of this great country. I do feel a bit ashamed, though, that it took such a devastating event to make me realize what the American flag really means.