It has been 10 years since that fateful day, which struck the hearts and souls of Americans and the world. It has been said that you can forget any day, even what you did yesterday, but no one ever forgets what they did on September 11, 2001. It is bittersweet how tragedies remain forever ingrain in one's mind. Perhaps it is because of the strong emotion that tragedy brings and how hard it took us by surprise.
I remember that I woke up late for school that day. I can't remember what I did the night before that made me overslept. But I definitely remember my mother coming in my room, yelling at me. Not because I was late. "Wake up! Some building is on fire!" My mother didn't know what the World Trade Center is at the time. Neither did I. I was eleven, living on the west coast. No one ever spoke of the World Trade Center or of its purpose. I never learned about it in school. Needless to say, I was oblivious to what she was saying when I sprang out of bed, realizing I was going to be late for school. I only saw what I considered a glimpse of what was happening on television. A tall building. Billowing smoke. Two tall buildings. Lots of smoke. And I was late. I left the house. The details weren't given to me until I came into class and my teacher was telling us about what had happened in New York. So the two buildings I saw had been the World Trade Center. It was an attack. Planes. Crash. Burn. Collapse. Terror. My teacher then went onto a talk about terror and ended it with a few words of care, "I'm not trying to scare you. You shouldn't be afraid. Give them your prayers to how you would. Take out your homework from yesterday." The whole day went on regularly as if nothing had happened. We did our math. Read our reading. Learned about the ancient world. I can't remember what happened when the school day ended.
September 11, 2001 will never be for me as what it is for many. I haven't lost any loved ones, any friends in that tragic event. I cannot feel the same pain, the same heartbreak, the same tears, the same loss as they did. But I can feel an indirect pain, from the stories, from the pictures, from the clips. I can see it in their eyes, hear it in their voices. I can offer them my prayers and condolences. I can forever remember the sacrifices of their love ones and pay tribute to them as American heroes. This I can do. Not only for them, but for the thousands of Americans who have died over the last 10 years in the line of duty.
From what I have seen, I believe that like a phoenix, we will rise from the ashes of from the fires which consumed us and become strong. We have done this so many times, September 11, included; tragedy strikes and we have always risen back.
May the Deities above protect us, bless us, and give us the strength to continue to rise out of the ashes.
