Flashback Friday: 9/11

I was sixteen years old and a junior in high school. I was talking to my best friend, Lauren, at her locker when her boyfriend at the time walked up to us and said "a plane just crashed into the World Trade Center." We laughed. We thought it was a joke. I walked to my first period class, gym, and there was a note on the locker room door that we would be meeting in the cafeteria for class that morning. When I walked into the room it was silent. I looked up at the TV just in time to see the second plane hit the other tower. There were gasps, words of shock and even screams. We were helpless. We huddled together with our eyes glued to the TV. People were on their cell phones checking on family members who lived in New York, calling friends to spread the news and there were even a few tears. It was a moment of shock and fear. Wondering who would do this? Why they would do this? Then we saw the rescue efforts begin. Amazing men and women who would risk their lives to save another. It was an incredible sight to witness the selflessness of these individuals. Throughout the day we continued to watch as the chaos progressed {surprisingly enough... the only class we were not allowed to watch was US History}. We saw the towers collapse. We saw the people running from the dust. We saw it all fold out right in front of our eyes. It was a moment in history that I will never forget. It is one of those moments where you remember every detail of where you were when it happened. It has crippled our country, but for a moment, brought us together as one nation under God... united. My heart goes out to those families still suffering the effects from this tragedy. I hope that one day our country can be again united and peace can be the uniting message.

{this is me standing on the top of the world trade center in 2001. Can you see how small the empire state building is compared? Unless you have seen those towers in person, I don't know if you could imagine the shear magnitude of these buildings.}