Nearly Five Years Now...

It is still hard to believe that Monday will mark the 5th anniversary of 9/11. It makes one wonder, what were you doing when you found out?

I can remember everything from that day quite clearly. I know that it was a Tuesday because I was still in college and I had my Tuesday/Thursday classes that day. It started out as a typical Tuesday morning; I had gotten up, gotten dressed, and gone to breakfast. I remember that as I was coming out of the bathroom in my dorm someone who was walking in the hall mentioned to me that "a plane hit one of the Twin Towers." Of course I was in shock. We both thought that it was some sort of freak accident; that the plane had lost control.

At any rate, I hurried back to my room and turned on the TV to one of the news channels. Just as I turned the TV on, however, I saw something that I will never forget: a plane flew straight into the South Tower. Yes I saw it happen right before my eyes. I was beyond shocked. I was now freaking out. The newscasters said that this could not possibly be an accident...two planes hitting both towers within one hour? No. This was the work of terrorists. The reporters were then talking about other major cities at risk and that the country was on high alert.

I lived in the northern suburbs of Chicago at the time and attended college not far from my house. Chicago as I am sure you know is a major city. The Sear's Tower is there for crying out loud. Naturally I began to cry as I was very scared; not for myself, but for my family. My grandmother lived about a mile from the Sear's Tower at the time and her building could have easily been demolished had a plane hit the Sear's Tower. I picked up the phone and called my dad...I was in tears so it was very difficult to speak. I asked him if he heard what had happened and of course he said yes. I told him of my fears and he told me that everything would be all right; that nothing would happen in Chicago. How the hell could he make that kind of promise?! The country had just been attacked! After talking to him for another few minutes, we hung up. I called my mom, still in tears and told her of my fear. She had the same fear but was calmer as she had talked to my grandmother not long before. She was just fine.

My class (one of my History classes) was of course not the normal World History class that it would have normally been. We spent the enitre hour and a half talking about what had just happened. It broke my heart when some people said they were from New York and that their parents knew people who worked in the Towers.

After class I remember coming back to my dorm only to see several students gathered in the lounge watching NBC (or FOX, I can't remember). I walked into the room and was once again shocked. A plane had, not long ago hit the Pentagon. Another plane had hit a field in Pennsylvania. There were reports that the plane that went down in PA was heading towards the White House but that several of the people on board caused the plane to go down far from Washington, D.C. Heroes, all of them. No one had a dry eye.

And then it it happened. The attention was turned back to the Twin Towers now because they were looking as though they were going to collapse at any moment. Everyone in the room was petrified when the South Tower crumbled to the ground. It was silent. We could not believe that one of the two Towers was gone. Then the North Tower collapsed. New York, nor the rest of the country (or world for that matter) would never be the same.

My second (and last) class of the day was World Music. My professor barely stayed on topic and let us leave about 30 minutes early. I rushed back to the dorm and into the lounge where many people still were. The President was giving a speech on what had happened that day.

The rest of the day was spent in that room. We pretty much just talked and consoled each other, still numb from what happened. We were still in shock. The full blast of emotions would come the next day. And trust me, they did.

That's all I have to say today. I am sorry that this was not a happier entry, but I just needed to let this out. Five years. Wow.

-Lisa