September 11, 2010

photo found on blogs.villagevoice.com

It wasn't until I left my apartment and saw all the flags lining the streets that I remembered that today is September 11. It is strange to think that nine years ago our nation was attacked. I remember the morning of September 11, 2001. I was rushing to get ready for school. The television was on in my parents' bedroom, and I remember seeing a picture of the twin towers on TV. But I was in a hurry, and I continued on my way.

At school--I was in junior high--all the televisions were on. I knew then that something was wrong. In a daze, I went from class to class. I watched planes crash into the Towers. The first tower fell, then the second tower, over and over again. It was an evil cycle--over and over one building would crumble in a cloud of cement-gray smoke, soon followed by the second tower. Reports kept coming in: tens of thousands dead or missing. The actual death toll would not be known for months. I kept thinking of the nearby Hill Airforce Base--what if whoever attacked the Twin Towers attacked here?

More and more reports came in: the Pentagon was hit by a plane, and another plane fell in Pennsylvania. A strange face appeared on the television in the afternoon--a man named Osama bin Laden, who had claimed responsibility for the attacks. All of it was overwhelming--it was too much for a fourteen-year-old girl. I walked, breathed, lived in a shocked daze.

I remember in my history class the lights were off and the television was on. I watched for the hundredth time the first tower fall. One boy cried out, "Cool!" It took all my self-control to keep from lunging over my desk and pummeling that boy. Didn't he realize that thousands of innocent lives had suddenly and hideously been snuffed out?

When I got home, I met up with my oldest brother Dustin. He was in his first year of college. I remember him saying something along the lines of, "If they start the draft again, I could probably get out of it because I'm in college or because I'm going on a mission soon, but I won't. I'll go protect my country."

That frightened me. I couldn't imagine my gentle brainy brother fighting, killing, even to protect others. I didn't want it. Luckily, the draft has not been reinstated. My brother has not had to fight and kill, though others have fought and killed and died.

So, nine years later, what have we learned? Have we beat the bad guys? Have we become closer as a nation, become a more God-fearing people? For a time, it seemed we would. Now, nothing is certain. I pray that we may learn from September 11. Let us learn to be a more God-fearing people. Let us learn to reach out to one another, to care for and lift one another. Let us make sure that we keep September 11, 2001, in our hearts so that we may learn to become better people.