Unforgettable, in every way
When I was a junior in high school my political science teacher Mr. Cozine once talked about how it felt the day that President Kennedy was shot. He said that it was something that you just could never forget; if you asked anybody alive on that day they could tell you exactly where they were, who they were with and what they were doing the moment they found out that he was dead. Mr. Cozine said that after that day, everybody felt as though the world they knew would be changed forever. I really never understood what he was saying until September 11, 2001.I remember my clock radio turning on at 5:45 and hearing the local morning talk show hosts, Gene and Julie on what was at the time Z95.7. They were talking about a horrible accident with a plane hitting the World Trade Center. It usually takes me a good half hour to be fully awake, but after hearing the distress in their voices I was up instantly. I started getting ready for work when my roommate Krista knocked on my door and asked me if I heard the news on the radio. We tried to watch some news coverage on our TV, but since we didn’t have cable we had to watch the events unfold on our static-laden tube. I called into work that day and left a message with my supervisor saying that there was no way in hell I’d step into a high rise building and called my mom, who was already at work. My mom worked downtown, and because I didn’t want her on public transportation and I was too nervous about driving I told her to get a cab. My mom, bless her heart, is a wonderful lady but oh soooo cheap. Instead of listening to me she got on the 38 Geary bus and ended up at my apartment an hour later. She stayed at our apartment and to pass the time she watched the staticky TV and sewed up the holes in an old quilt. Krista and I went down to the blood bank later on that day to give blood but we were turned down because they said they had already reached capacity for that day. Late in the afternoon I took my mom down to the BART station and put her on a train to go home, even though I was still really nervous. She called me when she arrived and told me that there was absolutely nobody on BART when she rode it. The last thing I remember about that day was looking up into the sky and not seeing any airplanes, and feeling like the world as I knew it would be changed forever.
My heart goes out to the WTC survivors and family members who are marking the anniversary of their lost loved ones. As I’m getting ready to start working I’m thinking about all those who died that day, and how they left for work not realizing that they would never have a chance to kiss their loved ones goodbye. They’ll never travel to places they longed to see or realize their goals. I know it’s not much, but I’m going to dedicate the work that I do today in honor of them; I’m going to relish all of the interviews I have to do and I'm going to write hard and well, because those that have died have been robbed of their opportunity to chase own dreams.
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