I was listening to an interview with Condoleeza Rice once, and she said that after that tragic day, "Every day was September 12th." I believe that is a very accurate statement. For those of us who are old enough to remember, there are two kinds of Americas... America before 9/11/01, and the Post 9/11 America we live in now.
I turned 20 years-old just a couple days before the tragedy. I spent the weekend drinking and partying with friends... not a care in the world. I was just getting my adult life started. I had just moved into my first apartment and started my first full-time job a couple months before.
I was running late for work that Tuesday (I wasn't a very good employee). I woke up, turned on The Today show, and ran for the shower. I noticed a building on fire, and did a double take when I noticed it was the World Trade Center on fire. I was blow drying my hair when the second plane hit, and screamed out loud. As I was driving to work, they reported about the Pentagon. While listening to a clock radio at my desk, I heard about the plane in Pennsylvania and the towers collapsing.
Along with a friend of mine, I walked across the street to a bar. I wasn't 21 yet, but we begged the bartender to let us inside to see the TV. He nodded, and let me sit down at a table. I watched the towers crumble and saw the new New York skyline for the first time. I'll never forget how I felt that day. Everything was so crazy, so scary... and so very sad. We knew that America was changed forever, but none of us could have known how much.
After work, I went to my then-boyfriend's house. We all sat around the TV, listening to the tragic stories of the day. The people jumping from the burning building, the phone messages left by people trapped on the upper floors of the buildings, the 911 calls... Eleven years later, I still remember these stories. I remember the talks of revenge and war, the effects this would have on the economy, and where we were all supposed to go from here. I went to bed that night and thought about how all of these things were going to affect my life. "I'm an adult now, and I will actually have to deal with all of this." The world felt like it was spinning out of control.
Just like everyone else in America, I didn't know how much effect this day was about to have. My family's business was hit hard by the post 9/11 recession. Half of the employees were laid off a few months after the tragedy. Numerous times, we almost shut the doors for good.
I also had no idea that I was going to become a military spouse, and those of us in military families are still fighting those battles that were ignited on September 11th, 2001. The War in Afghanistan, the War in Iraq, and deployment, after deployment, after deployment... So many lives lost in these last eleven years, and so many lives changed by injury and PTSD. It's overwhelming to think about. And it all came from this one day.
The events of September 11th, 2001 are forever seared into my memory. I will never forget the lives lost, those left behind, and those still fighting the battles that started on that beautiful Tuesday morning...
Where were you that morning?
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