10 Years Later...

I can not believe 9.11 was 10 years ago.  It feels like just yesterday it was 2001.  I was very lucky to not be directly affected by any of the terrorist attacks, and I certainly don't have any earth-shattering revelations about what happened that day, but Jeremy made me watch a couple specials on 9.11 and I kind of just wanted to write to remember.  I wish I had written down what I was thinking in 2001 - now 10 years later I feel like I barely remember the details of that day anymore, and that having seen so much footage and so many stories, I don't know if I am remembering details from those or what I actually saw.  We watched 102 Minutes that Changed America and 9/11: 10 Years Later (the documentary by two French brothers that focuses on the firefighters in Ladder 1).

9/11: 10 Years Later took my breath away.  And made me nauseous.  These brothers set out to film a rookie firefighter - I think Tony was 19 - and happened to go on a call regarding a gas smell just blocks from the WTC.  And they caught the first and only footage of the first plane hitting.  It is truly amazing and shocking and terrifying.  I absolutely can not imagine what must have been going through anyone's heads - witnessing these events, or being trapped in the buildings, or on the planes.

My now foggy memory of that day is being in Mr. VandenBelt's history class - it was either AP history or his world geography class (I took both that semester and now I can't remember which it was).  I believe it was second period?  I have a vague memory of walking between classes and hearing something about an attack in New York.  I believe we turned the news on in class, and I remember asking Mr. V what the WTC were.  I just didn't understand the significance of those buildings to terrorists.  I actually had been to the WTC once when we visited New York with my mom in 1998 or 1999 - we tried to eat at the restaurant, Windows on the World, and couldn't get in.  Later in the trip we took a picture from the Statue of Liberty with the twin towers perfectly in the background.  I'm not sure if my mom worked in the WTC, but I know when she went to NYC for business she worked near there.  I cannot say for sure if I witnessed the second plane crashing live.  I seem to remember watching it and thinking it was a replay of the first, then realizing it was happening live.  I think we all walked around in a bit of a daze and fear that day.  We were too young to understand the implications - I was, anyway - but I remember some girls had fathers who were traveling on business and were worried.  I remember a rumor that the top 5 biggest cities were going to be attacked and Houston was one of them.  I remember worrying about my mom working downtown in the Enron building.  I remember drill team practice getting canceled so we could go home when school ended - we might have even gotten to leave early, I'm not sure.  But it was a gorgeous day in Houston - clear, very blue skies, and just starting to feel a little cool.  It actually would have been a nice day to practice dance on the blacktop outside.  And then I remember flying was a little scary.  Lots of rules, and meeting people in baggage claim instead of at the gate.  It's crazy to me these are things Sawyer will never know.  Not that meeting in baggage claim is a hardship, I just think it's so weird that our children will grow up and 9.11 will not be a major event in their lives; it will just always be.

Three months later, my best friend from high school and our moms flew to New York City for vacation the day after Christmas.  One friend and her mom dropped out of the trip from fear.  But we went and enjoyed shopping and eating and a Broadway show (Mama Mia!).  We didn't make it to Ground Zero - now I wish we had seen it then, still in 2001.  I don't think the city seemed different to us, and I never felt unsafe.  In 2006 I went back to New York City, again with my mom and sister (and 100 other Bearkadettes!).  This time we did make time to see Ground Zero and I am very glad we did.  I have two pictures from our visit:

It looked quite different then, even 5 years after, than it does now.  The memorial looks beautiful and I hope one day to visit it.  Peace be with those who were lost and who lost loved ones that day.