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I WILL NEVER FORGET
By Terri Lynn Rasmussen
A TRIBUTE TO 9/11
All my life when I heard someone repeat a tragic or uplifting story about something in their history, they would say, "I remember where I was when such and such happened." I couldn't help asking myself would I ever see anything in my life where I could say the exact same words. Deep down, I wish I had never had the chance to say those daunting words on that dreadful September day.
I remember the day clearly as if it were yesterday. I woke up feeling depressed and very lonely. Because of my health. A few days before I was released from the hospital after a particularly bad flare up Crohns Disease and I almost died from a reaction to some medicine. But I was given a second chance, yet on that morning I didn't realize it.
A friend of mine was visiting and she was going to take me to the doctor for a follow-up visit. Ally and I had been sitting outside on my deck watching an abandoned house being demolished and going up in flames. I don't know what possessed me to look around at all the things that I normally took for granted, but I did. The sky was the most awesome shade of blue I have ever seen in my life. Almost the color of the bluest ocean in the world. Breathtaking, is the word that comes to mind when I think of how blue the sky was that day. White puffy clouds danced across the sky as a gentle breeze blew through the air. I found something so small to be thankful for. Until the call came in from my mom.
"Have you guys heard anything about an airplane flying into the World Trade Center?" She asked as soon as I said hello.
"No." I answered. Hadn't this happened before? I asked myself.
"Turn on the TV and call me back." She instructed me.
I did as she asked, not expecting to see anything so horrific and serious as what all the networks were showing. Ally and I sat on my bed and watched as another huge jet flew into the second building. At the same exact time, our hands covered our mouths in unbelief.
"Oh My God!" I exclaimed as Goosebumps prickled my skin. "What's going on?" The scene before my eyes was something out of a Hollywood blockbuster.
"I have no idea." Ally answered as we continued watching in horror.
The phone rang again and I answered it with my eyes still glues to the TV set.
My mom was calling again for an update.
"It's true." I told her. "They're calling it terrorist attacks."
Katie Courics voice interrupted the newscaster to say that another plane had flown into the Pentagon. Quickly, the picture changed from New York to our military's epicenter in Washington, DC.
"Oh my God." I exclaimed again as tears began to fall down my cheeks. "Another plane just hit the Pentagon." I could hear my mom relay the information to her co-workers.
What was going on? Why was this happening? Who hated us so much to do something so vile and inhumane to the country I was born and raised in? The country I loved? Is this the end of the world? Who was next?
Hating to tear ourselves away from the news pouring in, Ally and I had to go to my doctor's visit. We rode in silence. The radio filled the void with news of another jet crashing into a field in Pennsylvania. Later, we learned that the plane was headed to the White House and the passengers had taken the control away from the terrorists and had sacrificed their own lives to save hundreds more.
Once in the doctor's office the mood of the other patients and office staff was quite somber. I could see the looks on everyone's faces and no one really wanted to be there. Our minds and hearts were on the strangers in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania.
When we returned home, Ally and I immediately turned on the TV again to watch the latest in the coverage. The first mighty twin tower fell, sending plumes of smoke, dust, and ash through the streets of New York. As I began to cry again, my body began to shake from the scene. I knew if anyone was in that building, there was no way they would come out alive.
"Oh my God," were the only words that came to my mind and they were all I could say as I watched strangers run for their lives. My heart and prayers went out to the families even though, I didn't know them. I began to pray.
A few hours later, the second giant of metal fell to the ground. I couldn't believe my eyes.
The days following slowly slipped into one another and all the networks remained on the air non-stop. Planes and flights were stopped, stranding people in every state and every corner of the world. Breaking news about the terrorist group responsible for the atrocity hit the air waves. Al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. Names I had never heard before are now forever part of my vocabulary.
Shock and uncertainty about the events of that horrific day slowly turned into anger. I hated the people responsible for destroying so many innocent lives. No, I cannot forgive the loss we, as citizens of this country, suffered on that day.
Because I cannot forget. I will never forget the images of people I have never met and will probably never meet hurting and searching for their loved ones at various hospitals. Or the vigils that followed. I cannot forget the unity of the country for a few short months following the attacks.
I cannot forget that horrible day five years ago. I don't want to forget the heroes that were born and died that day. From firefighters, policemen, to average normal everyday citizens that sacrificed so much. Even though, I wasn't in New York, Washington, D.C., or Pennsylvania on that day, it is a day that forever changed the world. Good or bad. I don't know. I do know that...
I will never forget.
***The End***
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