nmah5440.xml

nmah5440.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2003-02-17

I live in North College Hill, a small town on the outskirts of Cincinnati, OH. I was up late the night before. I was watching the movie "The Cell" until late night. I remember taking the test on the DVD. The special psychological test. I did something interesting on the test the night before. I answered into the highest echlon on the quiz and then I chose all of the answers that had to do with the next lower echlon and the next lowest and the next lowest. My concience told me to just go to bed however I ignored my concience.

The next morning I awoke in my bedroom. The colors of my room seemed to be a bit shifted. There was a man on the radio talking about how the towers of New York had fallen. I thought to myself that "I was experiencing a dream and that I had never been so concious of a dream before." I walked into the living room and life seemed to be moving in slow motion. There was a crispness to the air that I was not accustomed to. The light shone in through the windows and it was a bright morning. A very bright morning. I turned on the television and I saw the image of a plane flying into a building. I did not know how to react. I sat down on teh couch and just began to absorb. What was I looking at? What was I seeing? Shortly thereafter the second plane hit the second building. I was in awe. Never had I ever imagined a sight such as that would ever enter into my conciousness. I was speechless.

I went online and checked my email and then I checked were-here.com and an online chatroom. I perused the news sites and my email account. I was aghast, it dawned on me that I was no longer in a dream and that it was never a dream, airplanes crashed into buildings in real life. I was numb.

I had to work later that day. I was employed at Blockbuster Video. I went to work as usual and everyone was quiet. There was not much to talk about and there was not much to do. Everyone was innundated with imagery of a horrific event and life was supposed to continue as usual. It seemed unfair however there was nothing else to do except to continue as though nothing happened.

I have lost a lot of focus in my life. I do not know the point anymore. I do not know how to react. My life has changed basically because I have become so much more patriotic. I fell back on my belief in the American Dream and the political system that is in place within america. I never used to be so Pro-American and now I firmly believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that America needs to be and is the greatest nation on earth. There is no more doubt left in me.

I also live each day as though it could be the last. I understand just how fragile today is because never in my wildest dreams could I imagine a plane landing on me and I am sure that none of the people in those buildings could either. I just live every day as though it may be my last and I live a life with no regrets because if my final moments come unexpectedly I want to be able to understand that there is nothing more I could have done.

I think people should remember what they thought before September 11th. I think people should try and remember how life was just before the event occured. I think people should also remember the calmness that occured as a result that day. The looks in people's eyes that day.

I have fallen in love with the American Flag. I feel that it represents a feeling and an idea that will never be replicated or outdone.