I Will Always Remember

Laying on my bed in my freshman dorm room.
A suite-mate rushed in to say 1 of the towers at the World Trade Center was on fire.
Immediately turned on the TV to see the confusion and had disbelief of my own.
Saw the 2nd airplane fly into the 2nd tower.
Sat in horror of what I just witnessed.
Cried.
Called my mom.
Shocked to see the Pentagon on fire.
Gasped when both towers collapsed.
Heartbroken to hear about the crash of Flight 93.
Attended a candlelight vigil at the university's campus.

Those memories and feelings will haunt me for the rest of my life.  We all have our own version of that day.  It's one of those events that people will always remember where they were, what they were doing.

The previous summer I had been right inside the lobby of the WTC.  I was with a high school group of foreign exchange students touring the East Coast.  It was a hot New York day so we went inside to sit down and cool off.  And in 1994, a year after the first WTC bombing, I took the elevator with my family to the top floor.  We have pictures of us looking down at the streets over a hundred stories below.  I remember thinking then just how horrible it would be to fall from way up high.  Some people, though, on 9/11/01 made that choice.

How strange it felt to bear witness to a city enduring such atrocities.  A city I truly loved.  Since 2001, I have been back to NYC twice.  There is something about the City that I can't get enough of.  The energy.  The history.  The uniqueness.  But, I have not gone to Ground Zero.  The first time back was the summer of 2002.  The feelings of 9/11 were too raw and I wanted to celebrate being in the City again.  While taking the subway, the sign for the "World Trade Center" was still hanging up.  I remember tearing up.  It just didn't seem possible that those 2 iconic towers were no more.

The second trip was to celebrate our 5 year wedding anniversary.  We were only there for a few days.  It was James' first trip to the City.  I would have went then, but since we were short on time, we decided against it.  We did drive by, though, while on our way to the Staten Island Ferry.  I saw a glimpse and it brought me back to that fateful day.

Someday, once the memorial is opened, I plan on going back and devote a day to touring it and paying my respects.  I know that it will be an emotional day.  It will be a painful day.

But for now, I will remember the 2,996 lives lost on that day...10 years ago today.