nmah5271.xml

nmah5271.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-11-02

I had been enjoying a long summer vacation, visiting my family in Cape Elizabeth, Maine and was getting ready to go back home to Washington, D.C. (I live in Alexandria, VA.)
My mother and I had gone shopping at the Maine Mall in Portland the evening of Sept. 10, and we had been talking about my departure back to the "big" city and how different life was there. My mother was so concerned for my safety in D.C. and compared to the way life is in Cape Elizabeth, she had a perfect right to fret. After all, my mother hardly ever locks her front door! The neighbors all look out for each other, and it's one of the safest places I've ever known. I remember getting up that morning, pouring my first cup of coffee and settling down on the couch to read that morning paper. Mornings were always so calm here in Maine. Someone had the National Public Radio station on and classical music wafted through the air. Suddenly- The News. We rushed to turn on the television- which was very unusual. The TV hardly got turned on all summer. We had instead embraced a summer of reading and playing games or walking on the beach. It was so surreal- watching what really looked like a horror movie. And then the Pentagon was hit- I was horrified. Reality hit hard. I was immediately on the phone trying to get through to friends I knew back in D.C. fearing the worst. Also, calling family on Long Island, New York, hoping no one had taken a trip downtown to Manhattan that day. But what really struck me, the next day, was the photograph on the front page of the local Portland newspaper of the two hijackers that had spent the night at a hotel in Portland the night before. The video surveillance camera at the Portland airport had captured the image of those two men just before they had embarked on their suicide mission to turn life in America upside down. Mom and I had driven right past that hotel that night coming home from the Mall. We had been in the midst of Evil. Suddenly, I knew my feeling of safety and security in Cape Elizabeth, Maine- where nothing bad ever happens- was shattered forever.

I can't even begin to express in words how my life has changed. I will never drive by the Pentagon again without my heart hurting. I will never visit New York City again and see the World Trade Center's unmistakable impact on the skyline, whether by plane, train or car - I'll never see those Towers again. It's a big empty space now. Even if and when they rebuild- it'll never be the same. I'll never fly in an airplane and feel calm again. There will always be that little question mark in the back of my mind- what would I do if the plane were hijacked? Would I be as brave as those people on flight 93?

All of the innocent people that lost their lives that day.-
America's loss of innocence.

Yes, I flew an American flag and continue to do so. I often feel tears in my eyes when I look at any American flag now. It stands for something I can feel in my heart and soul now. I am proud of my country and the flag that represents America and everything this country means to me.