story11756.xml

story11756.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2005-08-23

It was my freshman year in high school. I was in choir that morning. We were warming up just like normal and the principal came over the PA system and said, "There's been a plane crash in New York City, the TVs have been tuned into CNN if you wish to watch." There were no TV's in the choir room so nobody really thought anything of it at the time. We just kept singing. None of us knew what happened. It wasn't until I got to lunch a few hours later that a girl was crying she said "did you see what happened?" I said no. I had no clue. When I got to my second to last class of the day my biology teacher passed around this news article he printed off the net. It told a little more about what had happened. I immediately started to cry. I had an aunt, uncle, and cousin who lived in Manhattan. At the time, I didn't know how close to the towers they lived. I was really upset, couldn't concentrate. Then finally I got to my history class where the TV was on and it showed what happened. I freaked. I made the teacher let me use the phone to call home to my mom so i could see if my family was okay. She told me everybody was fine. My uncle lives toward the opposite end of the island across from central park. Everybody was safe. I had a cousin who was stuck in Washington DC that day. It made me realize how precious life really is. And how lucky we were that my uncle was still at home in his apartment when it all happened. I will never forget that day as long as I live. Never forgive or forget.