9/11: How I Remember It

Today was a day of mourning and remembrance for our Country. Seven years was a good while ago, only it seems like a few short years since that fateful day.

I have never written about what I felt that day, or how that day played out before me, so I will do it today.

Seven years ago I was sitting in French class, I was a Junior in High School. We were doing our lesson when the Principle came over the intercom with an announcement. I remember it exactly. He said, "Teachers, turn on your televisions to CNN, I think there is something the students need to see." This still gives me chills when I remember the sound of his voice. To this day I am so grateful that he allowed us to see everything as it was happening, I wouldn't take nothing for that experience.

The class watched in silence as flames shot from the first Tower. Teachers and students who had been in the hall stepped inside classroom doors so they could see. I remember my mouth being dropped in horror and shock. At the time there was no thought of a terrorist attack, but it was thought to have been an accident. I thought to myself, but how can a plane get that low and hit that straight on.

Not long after that, the second plane hit. We knew then, it was no accident. We continued to watch the news with complete disbelief. We tried to make sense of it all. We just couldn't.

The bell rings, classes switch.....there's chatter and commotion all over the halls. The next thing, the Pentagon is hit, evacuations take place at all top government buildings. Then another plane crashes in a field. Later we learn that it was most likely bound for the White House. We wondered when all of this was going to stop. At some point the first Tower collapses. We watch over and over again as papers fly from the crashing building.

Sometime later, our school served lunch. Meanwhile, students were lined up at the pay phones calling their parents out of fear. Many friends were hugging and crying and trying to make since of it all. My friends and I asked, are we safe? What's to come? I was so glad I was Saved. After lunch, I returned to Drivers Ed class only to be sent to the Library as my teacher, a part-time police officer, met with administration, school was dismissing early for the day. I borrowed my teacher's cell phone upon his return and called my mom to come pick me up......I was scared.

My school felt it best that the students went home to be with their families, as they knew parents were worried about their children. I appreciate this about my school, they understood that even though we were thousands of miles away from the attacks, we needed security. My mom pulled up to pick me up, and I just wanted to see her and have her help me make sense out of it all.

When I look back on that day. I think about how I wondered if the world was coming to an end. And I wondered if I would ever see my family again. I went home and video taped the news reports as they were still coming in. I didn't want to forget it, I wanted my children to see it too. As I looked up at the sky that night, I looked out at a still sky, not a single flicker from a plane above......the sky was quiet with only the stars and the moon shining.

I'm very thankful that the Lord saved me and I don't have to be afraid of what is to come. He will keep me safe, or take me Home.


Lord, I pray that we will never, ever forget the power that You have. I pray that we will never forget the way we felt the day that many, many people lost their lives so suddenly. I pray for those still suffering from the loss of their loved ones and those who are physically and mentally suffering as they were there that day. Thank you, Lord, for this great country, and for the men and women who, since September 11, 2001, have served our country because they remember how they felt when it all happened. Thank you for saving me.


Photos courtesy of Foxnews.com