A Day To Remember….

A day to remember…..

Today is the 12th anniversary of a day that I will never forget.  I’ve been reading a lot of blog posts that are in my Feedly reader today about 9/11.  Some have brought back a lot of memories of that day, some made me tear up, and others gave me goosebumps.

Everyone has those “days” where they remember exactly what they were doing when something major happened in the world.  I have a few of them, but September 11, 2001 is the most vivid one.

That Tuesday morning started off just like the few Tuesdays before it, where I woke up in my dorm room at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln early to go eat breakfast with my roommate, Gina.  We always turned on Good Morning America while we were getting ready and that morning when we went downstairs to eat we left it on.  I was planning on coming back up and hanging out for awhile because my first class that day didn’t start until 11am.

When I walked back into our room, the first thing I saw on TV was the first tower smoking.  They were talking about a plane flying into it.  I was trying to figure out what they were talking about when all of a sudden a plane flew into the second tower!  I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.  I just sat there on my futon by myself staring at the TV, trying to absorb what was happening.

I watched as both towers fell.  It was unimaginable, yet there I was watching it all happen live on TV.  My family had just been there that spring over our Easter break.  My sisters and I have a good picture of us three when we were out at the Statue of Liberty with the towers in the background.  Now here I was watching them go crashing to the ground.

They started talking about other places that could be hit and terrorist attacks.  Other cities were mentioned and I remembered that my parents were in Chicago for a few days.  I tried calling them from my cell phone, but I couldn’t get through to their cell phones.  I finally was able to get ahold of my aunt at her house which was where my parents were staying.  They said they were watching it all on TV and that they weren’t going to be going anywhere that day.  The Sears Tower in Chicago was at some point mentioned as a possible target.

I wasn’t sure if my 11 am class was still on, but I decided to head over and see.  It was a German class, which we still had, but I’m pretty sure we didn’t get much accomplished that day.

The following days were all so surreal.  When they started reporting on the extent of the casualties and you started hearing stories about what had happened, you couldn’t help be feel the pain that NYC and DC were feeling.

One thing that I really took away from that day, was that I was proud to be an American.  We are strong…we are resilient…we can overcome…I’ve been to New York three times since 9/11 and each time I’ve walked over to Ground Zero.  It’s hard to picture what that area looked like before the attacks, but it’s such a beautiful memorial now.  I can’t wait to go back and see the completed memorial when it’s done.

I’m so proud of the country that I live in, of the men and women that protect our land, and the firefighters and police officers that keep of safe.  I gave my babies extra kisses and hugs tonight before they went to bed.  They will only hear stories about this day in history, but I’m sure they will be as proud of the USA as I am for coming together and overcoming this terrible tragedy.

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