Remembering.

I will never forget where I sat and what I was doing 10 years ago today as our nation underwent terrorists attacks that claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 innocent citizens. I was in high school and sitting through a lengthy student resource time due to standardized testing going on throughout the school. It was not our day or our time for testing, so we sat in quiet study halls. I remember the moment our principle came over the intercom to announce a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center and asked for teachers not administering testing to turn on the classroom televisions to follow the news coverage. 

As our study hall teacher reached up and switched on the TV I remember not really feeling much. I was young and I don't think I quite grasped the magnitude that a plane crashing into a skyscraper meant that people were in that building dying as the nation watched. When I saw the image of the north tower smoldering with its gaping hole in the side, that reality grasped me a little harder. People were losing their lives right before our eyes. I remember the news coverage at first thinking this was a tragic accident. We watched the live coverage as the second plane came into view and watched as it slammed into the south tower. A large explosion ensued and at that moment the faces of everyone in the classroom reflected the horror of the event we had just witnessed as young high schoolers. We were watching a moment that would forever be forged in history books. I remember covering my mouth and gasping as the cause became evident. America was under attack.

A short time later the news coverage panned to the Pentagon, where a third hijacked airliner had crashed. More innocent lives lost and more destruction. No one in the room could move. We were each gripped with a fear we had never known. How could such a horrific thing happen here in America? We got word of the downed flight 93 in Shanksville and then the towers collapsed. I looked around the room and no one could move. Eyes were glued to the television as we watched these towers disappear from the New York skyline in a cloud of dust and debris. Our study hall teacher was wiping away heavy, wet tears with her Kleenex and sniffles could be heard all over the room. That was the only sound that could be heard and it was pretty much the only sound that was heard in our school for the remainder of the day. Those who emerged from testing were struck with the tough reality that a tragic event had unfolded, to which they were unaware. I will never forget the reactions of my classmates that day. I will never forget their facial expressions, their sobs, and their silence. That silence was deafening.

It was a numbing day. After study hall had ended I remember classes not really continuing as planned. Instead we watched news coverage and drank in everything about this day. I remember going home and not even really knowing what to say to my parents. I remember telling my mom where I was and how it felt watching the second plane crash into the towers. I remember wondering if it was over or whether more attacks would come. I'm not sure I slept a wink that evening. I laid in my bed and just stared at my ceiling. I thought about how terrified those on the hijacked airliners must have been knowing these were their last moments on Earth. I cannot fathom fear so great. I cannot fathom how harrowing those last moments were for those trapped in the towers. That evening I struggled knowing there were children who had parents that would not be coming home. Brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, children, friends, and family were gone forever; their lives taken by those with no regard for human life. Even their own.

I watched a documentary lastnight that showed the news coverage as it happened. The feelings from that day all came rushing back. Now as an adult and as a parent, it means so much more. The magnitude is somehow greater. Someday I will share with my children what happened on the 11th of September 2001. I will talk to my children about the events of that day and its gravity just as my parents spoke with me about events such as the Challenger explosion. Our nation has rebounded from the tragedy, but its impact is still being felt the world over.

On this 10th anniversary of the worst terrorist attack on American soil, I remember those who lost their lives and the many families affected by this senseless tragedy. I remember. Please take a moment on this beautiful Sunday to remember those afflicted by the events of September 11, 2001 and their families. Remember the heroism and the selflessness of the first responders, the passengers on flight 93, and those who came together in the days following to protect our country and comfort our citizens. Remember.

Do you remember where you were when the news broke of the attacks?