story1000.xml

story1000.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-08-11

I was sleeping because I had a late class tha t day and the phone rung at about 7am so that would have been 9am Eastern Time. It was a friend of mine telling me to turn on the TV. I asked what channel and she said that it didn't matter. That should have been my first clue that something wasn't right but nothing prepared me for what I saw. I turned it on just as the 2nd plane hit. It took a minute to realize that it wasn't a horrible dream. I just sad watching CNN for what felt like an eternity. I don't remember what time it was but when there was a report that the State Department had been bombed that is when I literally thought the world was coming to an end.

I am a journalism major so for the first 3 days I thought of this as a news story. Maybe it was because I didn't want to let it in. I remember that Friday is when it hit me. I literally just broke down and started crying. It was just the saddest thing that I had ever felt. I mean I used to live in the NY metro area so I saw those buildings all the time and to picture the city without them I just can't do it. I remember seeing the people standing in lines with pictures of their loved ones, many hoping for a miracle that never came. Still to this day I tear up everytime I think about it. Not about the towers themselves but the people. The people who got up one morning like it was any other day and for those family members and friends who never got to say one more "I love you" or one last hug and to think that they would give anything for that just breaks your heart and will for a long time if not forever.

Years from now this will become one of those days in history that you read about like November 22, 1963 or December 7, 1941. People will remember what happened but those of us who were alive at the time will remember the faces and the images and not the words on the pages of a history book.