nmah5624.xml

nmah5624.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2003-08-31

On September 11, Fred and I were sleeping when the phone rang. We thought the call was the hotel waking us up. This is what we assumed was our last day in an all-inclusive Puerta Vallarta resort.

Fred answered the phone to my father's voice. My father told Fred to turn on CNN, "the World Trade Center has been hit!" Fred thought my dad was joking! Fred, wierded out by the "joke", gave the phone to me. After my dad told me a plane went into the World Trade Center, I insisted for Fred to turn on the T.V. We were astonished when we saw the pictures. I think just like all Americans, we were shocked! I felt like I was watching an action movie, not real life terror! My father told Fred and I that we would need to look into extending our trip. He said, "no international flights would be arriving into the U.S.A."

Fred ran out of the hotel room to the phone outside. He needed to call his family to make sure they were not hurt. His family lives in Long Island, New York. He found out all of his family was safe.

For the remainder of the day, Fred and I sat in bed together, watching CNN. We held eachother. We felt abandoned from all other Americans. We obsessed over watching the news for hours!

Fred and I had to stay in Mexico longer than we expected!
We stayed four extra nights! To celebrate our potential departure, each night we assumed would be our last night! Then, in the morning, we'd get a phone call saying no flights are going into the U.S.A. Fred and I were missing work, and missing being home with other Americans. From the moment the plane hit the WTC, patriotism ran through my bloodsteam. I felt I needed to return home to share stories with the rest of the Americans. I wanted to hug my family and friends.
Fred and I tried to make the best of our extended trip. We limited how much we watched CNN, and spent time lying on the beach. We had been dating for seven months, and now I knew for the rest of our lives, we would share this horrific American history. I believe the terrorism in NY hit Fred harder because of him growing up there. He shared stories with me about when he went up to the World Trade Center.
Saturday night Fred and I ate dinner, and then decided to watch the entertainment at the hotel. We thought this was going to be one of our "last nights" in Mexico. We quickly realized that this day was the Mexican independence day. People were partying, drinking tequila, dancing, and singing! We quietly sat in our seat, watching all the Mexicans waving their Mexican flags. Fred and I realized we felt out of place. As the Mexicans were celebrating; we Americans were hurting, and feeling
as if the terrorists took our independence!

Sunday morning we got on one of the first international flights back into the United States. I will never forget when we were landing into Houston; all of the passengers applauded. We all smiled. We were happy to be returning to our land!

Life is short! Love everything around you, and never take advantage of people in your life! We need to protect ourselves from terrorists. We need to work as a team. We need to realize we can be hurt, but we know how to pick up the broken pieces!
Protect children!
Love your home, city, and country.
There are evil people in this world and their are heros!
Everyday heros died for us!

I think Americans went through a time when we forgot about patriotism. Our lives were so busy, we never stopped to think about our freedom. Since September 11, we have grown to be proud again. We have been reminded of being united! We stopped putting emphasis on money and things. We now know our family, friend, and neighbors are precious! We now know we must work hard at keeping our freedom! Our flag flies high, just like our pride!