Growing up I always listened to my mom talk about how she'd always remember where she was and what she was doing when JFK was assassinated; back then I never realized why it was so significant for her, that is until September 11, 2001.
I was 6 months pregnant with my son and for whatever reason I had decided not to watch the news; even though that's what I usually did as I was getting ready for work. Only having one car at the time and working in opposite directions I had relied on my mom for a ride to work that day. When she picked me up she said a plane hit one of the World Trade Center towers in NYC they think it's terrorists and they don't know how they're going to get to the people in the floors above. I will admit, at that time I really had only a vague idea of what the World Trade Center was but still thought OMG how awful. Little did I know how awful it would get. I remember getting to work, which was only a 20-30 minute drive and telling my co worker at the time what my mom had just told me. She looked at me and said you haven't heard? The towers fell, one plane hit the Pentagon and there's another missing. By this time I was scared shitless as I relayed to my mom (who had stopped back in after going to the grocery store next door) and I remember telling her that the US was basically under attack. My boss had the radio on the whole day so that we could get up to the min info; and I remember trying to cover my fear with humor which fell flat. By this time they were evacuating any buildings over a certain story which included the nearby college and all I could think about at the time was OMG all my siblings work downtown. At that time the country had no idea if this was it or if there were other targets (living in Chicago we were assuming that we were a possibility).
In the days that followed I got the true impact of what had happened. Watching all the news coverage I was both horrified and proud. Horrified at the tragedy that had happened and proud of the unity that our country had formed. You constantly were hearing about people banning together to get people out, to help one another. None more powerful than the people that banneded together on flight 93 who refused to let their plane take out what has been assumed to be the White House. It wasn't only the US either - I remember hearing a story of a Canadian town where the townspeople took in US citizens whose flight had been grounded that day. People from around the world were uniting together. Watching news coverage day after day there was always a new story, someone else giving their reaction. For me there was none more powerful than the reaction of what looked to be about a 12 year old boy who was literally shaking with anger and said "They hit the Pentagon; they hit the nerve center of our military" in a how DARE they voice. I also remember hearing about the President's reaction; now say what you will about George W Bush - Lord knows I'm a Democrat but I will ALWAYS respect that man for that day. He was reading to a room full of Florida second graders when he was informed that the US was under attack - how does one react and NOT scare those children? Well he figured it out because he did it with grace and finesse.
I will admit after that first month, the events of that day moved to the back of my mind - not because I wanted to forget, but because my own life was falling apart. I was having my first child and in those next 8 months my son would be born, my father would pass away, and my relationship with my fiance would come to an end. However the day was never completely forgotten, and since then I often think about that day and even have a People magazine that I kept that I sometimes look at. I never want to forget the day that I saw the worst and the best in people. Now ten years later I think about how NYC has recovered and is moving forward - the video coverage of the new reflecting pool memorials is absolutely stunning. I hope one day to bring my son there to see that, the lonely field in Shanksville, PA, and as close to the Pentagon as they'll allow. If it's anything like the time I saw the traveling Vietnam Wall I will be a sobbing mess. I don't know what it was but when you're in the presence of it you can almost feel the souls of the names on that wall.
This day will forever remain in our hearts and memories - a day when we were truly one nation. Unfortunately it took this tragedy for us to unite, and now ten years later I feel like that unity has wained. We no longer give a shit about the person next to us on the train, we still view Muslims as the bad guys because yes a dozen people speak for an entire nation. We forget about the soldiers who are still overseas fighting for our daily freedoms - that is until we heard they finally killed Osama Bin Ladin and after that it was five minutes of elation and then back to the hum drum of daily life. If anyone takes away anything from this, let it be to live life to the fullest and have tolerance hell CARE about each other - even if it's something as simple as letting the person who has one thing go ahead of you at the grocery store because as I just heard a 9/11 survivor say "As long as there's not a plane coming into this building you're having a good day"
