I know this post will not be very original today, but I don't think that's so important on a day such as this.
As I sit here eating my bagel and drinking my hot tea this Sunday morning, I cannot help but think back to that Tuesday morning in 2001.
I was eleven-years-old and sitting in my sixth grade math class.
There was a knock at the door, and another teacher leaned her head in and motioned my teacher to come over. I can still remember my teacher's face as she received the news. Her eyes widened, and even though I was young, I immediately knew that something very grave and awful had happened.
My teacher walked swiftly to the TV and turned on the news.
We were faced with the image of the first tower of the World Trade Center engulfed in flames and smoke.
I kept hearing the news anchors referring to the buildings as the twin towers. My dad works for a company in Cincinnati whose two buildings are sometimes referred to as that. My stomach flipped, and I wondered if it was my dad's work they were talking about.
Several classmates of mine were picked up early, but I rode the school bus home like any other day.
That afternoon, I was glued to the television. I remember feeling just so sick that day. I was petrified of what was taking place in my own country. I was also at an awkward age to receive and interpret the events of September 11th. I was old enough to somewhat understand what had happened, but I was too young to truly comprehend what it all meant.
A few nights later, I heard a plane fly over our house. I ran to my parents' room, terrified. I was convinced that a plane was going to crash into our house.
For almost three months after that, I had to sleep on the family room couch with earplugs so I wouldn't hear the planes fly overheard. Whenever I heard a plane at night, those images from September 11th came flooding back, and I felt certain that my house would be destroyed. I would have such vivid nightmares where I'd be standing in my driveway, paralyzed and helpless, while a plane dived into my house. I could always see the face of the hijacker. They were horrifying dreams.
Ten years later, my stomach still dips a little when I hear a plane flying overhead at night. I think about how much our nation and our world has changed because of that day in September.
September 11th makes me feel angry, bitter, frightened, and sad.
I know I will be saying a prayer today for all of those lives lost on September 11th as well as the men, women, and children killed by acts of terrorism since then- in America and all over the globe. I will also be praying for all of the people who have lost loved ones in terrorist attacks. I just cannot imagine losing a loved one to such a cruel act of terror.
Thank you to all of the firefighters, police officers, and other heroes of September 11th, and thank you to all of the men and women who continue to keep our nation safe every day.
