Never Forget
10 years ago I was a sophomore in high school. I don’t have a good idea of what I was doing or exactly how I was told, but I remember sitting in D block Spanish and having someone come on over the speakers and make an announcement about what was happening. We didn’t have TVs in any of the classrooms, but there was a TV in the band/chorus room and I remember throughout the day that my friends who were in band telling us about what they had seen on the TVs. I came home and was glued to the TV watching the news coverage. I couldn’t really comprehend the things that were going on. I had never been to the World Trade Centers, I didn’t know anyone working or living in NYC, but I still knew that this was a big deal.
Last year I had the opportunity to go to the Pentagon Memorial and it was different from any other Memorial I visited in D.C. – I had witnessed the events. I was not alive during the Vietnam War or the Korean War. But on 9/11/01 my life changed, as it did everyone else’s. It was moving to be faced with the reality of the events. I went to the World Trade Center site which to me looked like a large construction site. Having no comparison of what the area had been like before, it was difficult to fathom the difference and the impact off the attacks on the lives of those in NYC on that day. But seeing the Memorial, seeing the parts of the building that was damaged and the number of people who had died at the Pentagon that day to me was very meaningful.
Today I will remember how lucky I am and will think of those directly impacted by the events on 9/11. I hope that I have a chance to return to the World Trade Center site to visit the Memorial and better understand the impact and see how we are rebuilding.