story2109.xml

story2109.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-10

The day of Sept. 11, I was sitting in class ready for my first hour of school to start. I was 13 yrs. old and had no idea of what was happening in my state or the ones on the eastern shore with me. Later that day I heard that two planes had hit the World Trade Center. I'll admit it I had no idea where or what the World Trade Center was. I just shrugged it off and thought nothing of it. At the end of my school day, my mom called to tell me where she had to be that day and that I should ride the bus. Then she mentioned that the World Trade Center had been attacked, then I knew it was very serious. The moment she mentioned lower Manhattan, I immediately thought of my favorite cousin Jake. He worked in Lower Manhattan at a bank and I knew he was close then I remembered the World Trade Center he mentioned and it all came together. I was suddenly terrified. I went home and watched countless images of planes going into the WTC, and the Pentagon, and Shanksville, Penn. I lived in fear until that Friday, that was when I found out that my cousin was okay and safe. I was relieved. He sent all of his family a account of what he saw and heard. My summary of it was no sooner did he set his breifcase down that he felt his whole building shake. Everyone ran to the window of the office except for ones who tried to find things out on the internet. Next, right before his eyes he saw the second plane hit. That blow blew his windows out in his office. He ran down stairs and they started to set up phones on the tables so people could call family. He tried the restaurant that my uncle owns. The line was busy. He turned and the first thing he saw was a Jewish white man, a black Christian woman, and a Hispanic Catholic woman, sitting in a circle on the floor praying in a circle. Soon he was summoned down to the basement where he spent the rest of the day. He had a friend whose family was visiting them in Lower Manhattan, that day they had decided to go into the restaurant at the top of one of the towers. One person in the family who was usually up very early in the morning had decided to sleep in, somehow they all had decided to wait for him and eat in New York City at Times Square. He had gone down to Ground Zero to help the next day and could only stay for atleast a half an hour to an hour because he kept seeing dead bodies and it really hit him hard in the heart. For all who read this, please take in mind that my cousin and his friends family are just fine. Only the memories will remind them, but I will assure you, they will NEVER forget. I am proud to be an American, and America to me means, anti-terrorists, pride, love, peace, and freedom. Never forget, always remember, the victims, the pain, the hope, the sorrow, the grief, the pride, the military, the NYPD, the N.Y. firefighters, the heroes. I will ask that everyone be humble and if you could, go out tomorrow evening and hold a candle. Love your country and love your family. God Bless America, our home sweet home.