story10145.xml

story10145.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2003-09-28

My Story of September 11th, 2001


My alarm clock went off the morning of September 11th, 2001 just as it always had. It was time for me to go to school. My first class of the day was at 11:00am. So I proceeded down stairs around 9:45 to brush my teeth. With my toothbrush in hand, I said good morning to my boyfriend?s mother, whom I had been living with at this time. It seemed like any other morning. Then the phone rang.
I heard her saying ?No way? as she frantically flipped through the channels on the television. I assumed that her husband had called her to tell her that someone they knew was on TV, this happened often because they are entertainers. I waited there behind her to see what she was looking for. Then she turned to me, and I will never forget her words, ? We are being attacked?. I sat on the coach, and was glued to the TV, and we saw the first tower in flames. As we watched in horror, not thinking that anything could get any worse, we saw the second building get struck. It was hard for me to watch, but even harder for me to turn away. I sat with my head in my hands crying my eyes out. How could a human being do something like this? I called my mother, and we just cried to each other on the phone. She told me to try to stay calm, and that if anything were to happen here that she would get to me no matter what. Needless to say, I didn?t go to school that day. I sat there watching TV all day. Watching those horrible videos over and over again. I felt like I was there. I have a lot of family up in New York, and all I could think about was where were they while all of this was happening? Were they amongst all of the people scurrying across the Washington Bridge?
Everything closed here in Orlando, even the theme parks. That is everywhere except for the place I worked. Its called Wonder Works. I was sure that they would be closed, but around 4:00pm I called my manager, and she told me that we would still have to work. I figured by this time, that maybe it would be a good idea to get away from the TV, and try to do something. I think that the only reason why I thought this way was because of something my mother told me. ? We have to keep on living our everyday lives. If we don?t, then and only then will they have won this fight.?
I got dressed, and made my way into work that day. I thought that I would be fine. However, this event was all that anyone could speak of. It was so hard to see tourists inside of this playhouse, having fun. I don?t know why it bothered me so much, but I thought that if I was so depressed, and so hurt that they should have been too. Someone asked me what was wrong? I gave them an evil look, and ran into the restroom. What is wrong? How could someone be so careless, and stupid to ask such a question? I quickly cleaned the tears from my face, and returned to work. The night dragged on forever, but I made it through till the end of my shift. That night, my eyes continued to be glued to the TV even though the same things were just being repeated over and over again. There wasn?t anything new being said yet.
The next day, I felt the same pain. This lasted for weeks, even months. I couldn?t go a whole day without getting into a deep conversation with someone about the recent events. I cried almost everyday while driving in my car. It was always something that made me see a drastic change in my country. Like the growing patriotism. On my way to work the following day, I bought a window flag from a young man standing on the corner of an intersection, just to show my patriotism, and my pain for my country.
It is now September 11th, 2003, and I still think of this tragic day often. It seems as though it was yesterday still. And still whenever seeing pictures, or hearing people talk about this tragic day, I shed a tear, for the families, friends, and for my country, which will always be scared from this horrible day.