story20616.xml

story20616.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2006-09-11

I woke up on Tuesday, September 11th at about 6:30 am when my mom opened my bedroom door. I remember being a bit upset with her because I still had 30 minutes of sleep left until I had to get up and get ready for work. She said I should get up and watch the news before I got ready for work. I couldn't believe what I saw on the television. The towers in New York were on fire. I asked my mom what happened and she told me that some people had flown planes into the towers. We heard that a plane hit the Pentagon. We watched the first tower fall. I cried. I cried when my mom left for work. I just wanted to melt into the couch and not leave the house. I didn't want to go to work. And then the second tower fell. And United 93 went down in Pennsylvania. I was in complete shock. How does something like this happen in my country? This is the kind of thing I expected to see happen in the middle east, making the evening news. This didn't happen in my country. I really didn't want to go to work. I don't think I came out of shock until the phone rang again. I worked at the Disneyland Resort at the time. It was my area lead calling to tell me that I didn't have to come in to work because the park would not be opening that day. I knew that if Disneyland wasn't opening, it was a big thing. Not long after the phone call, I realized how quiet it was. No airplanes flying overhead towards Long Beach Airport. I sat glued to the television all day and I cried. I still get choked up just thinking about it.