nmah6094.xml

nmah6094.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2003-09-11

My day started out let everyone else's that day - absolutely normal. I had already climbed out of bed, taken my shower, and started drinking my first cup of coffee. I normally didn't watch the television in the morning, but this morning I decided I would just turn it on to have some "background noise" as I got ready for work. The very first image I saw on the screen was the image of the a plane hitting a tall building. I live in Dallas, Texas and I've only been to New York one time in my life when I was a kid, so at the time, I didn't realize which building I was seeing, or where the image was being broadcast from. The reporter was in shock and he said that one plane may be considered an accident, but that TWO planes couldn't possibly be an accident. I remember thinking "Two planes? What in the world is going on?" After watching the news for another few seconds, I learned what had happened - that two commercial jets had struck each of the World Trade Center towers.
I had to get ready for work, so I managed to walk away from the TV and back into my bedroom. My clock radio was playing, and the morning show DJ's were still talking about silly, "morning show" things. They weren't even aware of what was happening yet. I continued to walk back and forth between my bedroom and the living room to keep updated on reports. It was very difficult to get ready for work that morning.
As I was gathering my car keys, another report was coming in saying that there had been an explosion at the Pentagon. At that moment I got the first feeling that more attacks could happen throughout the day, and started wondering "what's next?"
At the time, I worked at a video production company which was only minutes away from my home. When I walked in the door, several people were glued to one of the many TV monitors we had in the building. Most of us were just watching in silence as the towers burned. A co-worker of mine came in and asked "What's everyone watching?" We were stunned that he hadn't heard about this yet. He and I worked in the same department, so we went upstairs together and sat in a conference room to watch the TV in there. I had a phone meeting with a client that morning, so I left the room to go to my desk to get the phone number. During the time I was gone, the first tower fell. When I came back into the room, my co-worker said "It's gone. It just collapsed." I looked at the screen and saw only one building where there was once two. I couldn't believe it. I called my client, and she hadn't been able to get much news, so I filled her in. She asked me to call her back in a few minutes. I hung up and then stepped out of the room again, but I had not gotten three steps out the door when my co-worker yelled "Oh my God! The second one is going down!" I ran back into the room just in time to watch the second tower collapse. I stood there in shock with my hands over my mouth saying "All the people, what about all of those people?" I remember having what now seem like ridiculous thoughts like "I hope everyone got out okay" and "Surely, they were able to evacuate the buildings in time." The thought that so many people were trapped with no hope of getting out was just too much to bear.
As the day went on, and the reality of what happened finally settled in. The plane crashing into the Pentagon, the plane crashing in Pennsylvania, and the Twin Towers in New York collapsing - it was all overwhelming. I just kept thinking about the people on those planes and what they must have gone through. The people in the offices in the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, just going about their regular routines when suddenly all hell broke lose. And later, when we all found out about the firefighters, police and Port Authority officers and the sacrifices they made to save others, my heart broke. I thought about all the families and what pain they must have been going through during those hours of uncertainty on that day.

I didn't get home until late that evening, but I called my parents on my cell phone. My father answered and I asked him to put my mother on the phone so I could talk to them both at the same time. I told them that my thoughts all day long were about all of the people who died. I realized that these people woke up that morning just like I did, got ready for work, just like I did, and either went to their office or boarded a plane, never knowing that it would be the last day of their life. I told my parents that I hoped that each one of those people had had the opportunity to tell thier families that they loved them at least once before they went to work or got on that plane, and then I made a point to tell my parents that I loved them, because what happened that day was proof that your life can change in an instant, and that every day we have on this earth is a blessing and should never be taken for granted.

As I write this, it's the 2-year anniversary of that day and a lot has changed. I'm more politcally aware and opinionated than I've ever been. I pay more attention to what is happening around the world. I realize now that we aren't as safe as we once thought we were, and that a lot about our "system" has to change if we want to prevent another event like Sept. 11 from happening. I think 3,016 innocent lives lost in a single day should be enough to make people realize that we can't just curl up in a ball and hope that this will all go away if we just leave everyone alone. We need to understand that the terrorists cannot be negotiated with or appeased. They have to be stopped, and it will take time, money and sacrifices on everyone's part. But if that's what it takes to stop terrorists from ever unleashing their fanatic hatred against us or anyone else in the future, than I'm willing to make those sacrifices.

We should remember that the day started off like any other, and that it ended like no other. We should remember the people who lost their lives that day, and also their families and loved ones who have to carry on without them. We should remember that for a while, however brief, this country banded together and that there were no Republicans or Democrats, conservatives or librals - there were just Americans. I have never been more proud to call myself an American than I was on Sept. 12, 2001.

I live in an apartment, so I couldn't fly a flag, but I bought a small American flag sticker to put on the back window of my car, and it's been there ever since. I've always felt very strongly about the American flag and what it stands for, so those feelings were only reinforced after Sept. 11. To me, the flag is more than just a piece of cloth. It symbolizes everything that is right about this nation, and it represents the ideas and values that we strive to achieve. It doens't symbolize the "government," it sybolizes the nation and its citizens and the strength of both.