On Sept. 11, 2001, I was a junior in high school.
I was 16 years old.
I remember walking into the hallway between classes and hearing people say that the World Trade Center had exploded.
I remember not knowing where exactly the World Trade Center was.
I remember thinking, “So what? How will this affect me?”
I remember slowly realizing the gravity of what was taking place.
I remember feeling scared and confused.
I remember sitting in physics class listening to the news broadcasts of what was going on.
I remember the second plane hitting the tower.
I remember being emotionally involved in something that was taking place hundreds of miles away from me, for the first time in my life.
I remember hearing reports that a group of passengers thwarted the terrorists’ attempts to send Flight 93 into the White House.
I remember wondering what I would have left as a message to my family members if I was a passenger on Flight 93.
I remember being amazed at the courage and strength of the rescue workers that day.
I remember how our country came together in a way that we had never seen before. And we haven’t seen it since.
I remember being proud to be an American, and for the first time ever, appreciating what that meant.
In some ways, I think our country has forgotten that patriotism that we felt in the aftermath of 9/11.
I tend to forget as I go about my daily life.
We live in an amazing country that was founded on the idea freedom and has fought for it throughout our history.
Sometimes, it helps to just remember.
So that’s what I’ll do today.
I hope you join me.
We all changed a little bit that day. We witnessed something that we never thought we would see in our life. It is different to read about attacks on your country in the history books, but to witness it as it happens is a nightmare. I will never forget the feeling of dread watching the news that day. But I also remember how we all came together. I was a bank teller at the time, and we pretty much shut down to watch the news. Customers came in and sat with us forgetting their reasons to be in the bank. Their banking needs just weren't important anymore. I never hugged so many strangers before in my life.