Where Were You?

Yesterday being the 10^th anniversary of 9/11 we look back and remember where we were when we found out the news...

I was in 7^th grade when the bell rang letting me out of my 1^st period keyboarding class. The keyboarding room was attached to the library, and when we opened the door there were people crowding around one of the library televisions -everyone was completely silent which was rare for our school. The crowd in front of the TV kept growing as we watched in shock as they kept replaying the Flight 11 plane crashing into the north World Trade Tower. The news reporter kept saying it was a terrorist attack and the plane was hijacked. At this point I couldn’t wrap my head around what had happened, what terrorists were, what hijacking was, or how someone could do something so terrible.

After standing there for what seemed like eternity, our principal came over the intercom and told everyone to please go to our next class. We would be allowed to watch the news the rest of the day if our teachers were okay with it. As I sat in my English class, I started think about my family in Virginia, and then I realized my Uncle Gary worked in one of the World Trade Towers, but I couldn’t remember which one. At that point I was panicked. I called my dad and he said he was unable to get a hold of my uncle. He kept saying “I’m sure he is okay, I’m sure he is okay, I will keep calling him”. I could tell my dad was worried by his voice, which was not normal for my dad.

I didn’t think it was possible for this day to get any worse until we watched planes crash into the World Trade Center South Tower, the Pentagon, a field in Pennsylvania, and the Twin Towers crumble to the ground. At this point I was numb. I could not understand how someone could do this to so many innocent people.

When I arrived home from school my dad told me he just got a hold of Uncle Gary and that he was okay. He had a meeting out of the city that day. That evening my parents wouldn't allow us to watch anymore news. Instead we watched old reruns of I Love Lucy.

God was looking over my uncle and our family that day. Every year on 9/11 I think of my uncle, my family, and how lucky we were that he was not in the office on that day. And I think of the other families that weren’t as fortunate as mine.

Where were you when you found out the news of 9/11?