|
|
|
#117 | Friday, September 21st 2001
|
Jose's roommate, Ben, knocked on the door a little before 10:00 in the morning.
"I dont know if you guys care, or whatever, but america is under attack...so you might
want to turn on the television."
And with the flick of the remote, my perception of the United States and, more
specifically, New York City, was forever altered.
We sat glued to the tv for hours, mesmerized by the grotesque and surreal qualities of
what was occurring just an hour and a half away from us.
That Saturday, Jose and I drove to New York City to help out. It was the first time I ever felt
an intense love for the city so many people claim to adore. I was in awe of the sudden
fragility of such a typically hostile environment. I was heartbroken by the pictures i saw,
the heights and weights and birthmarks of the missing faces haunting every flat surface. I
saw a woman across the street from St. Vincents hospital hysterically sobbing. And I cried
too.
We went back again the next Tuesday. We helped load things into trucks for a few
hours for the salvation army. And still, there especially, the unity was more than
admirable.
I don't know how I will feel about this in a year. Will it still remain as surreal and
unfeasible as it is now? Will I ever be able to drive down the New Jersey Turnpike and see
the skyline without imagining the rise of the deathly smoke and ashes? I don't know. In
many ways, I hope not. I don't want to forget this. I don't want to be less affected by this
extraordinarily evil attack than I am now. I want to always be capable of feeling both
shocked and appalled by this. I hope everyone does This is not something anyone should
ever accept as "normal."
|
Elizabeth | 20 | Pennsylvania
|
#94 | Wednesday, September 19th 2001
|
I had an 8am math class here at Texas Tech . I was sleeping through it as I usually did on Tuesdays. The phone rang. It was my mom, it was too early so i just let it ring. The tone in her voice on the answering machine shook me awake and made me hurdle accross the room to the phone. I decided to call her back but first I turned on my TV. It was all suddenly soo clear, but at the same time soo confusing. One plane one tower. An accident how horrible. But then the second plane took away any doubt, excuse or shred of the worl I went to sleep in. What do I do? So far away but it kicked in my fight or flight mentality. What do I do? A list of my loved ones ran through my head. Where is everyone? Are they ok? Not fully grasping everything I got dressed, put on shoes and for the first time in 3 years left my dorm room without my contacts in. In class they told us both towers had fallen. I cant recall what we did that class, except cry. and wonder and stare into space. At the student center I saw a friend crowded into the theater watching CNN on a Movie screen. We just held each other, cried and flinched as they replayed the video. No more No more No more. But how could we look away. The doubt that it actually happened is still here. The scarieness of flying is stillvery much with me. And all of my plans are being rearranged. Im sorry for thoose who didnt know life before this, I promise to do all I can to not let this ever happen again, but also to never let this be forgotten.
|
Romy | 20 | Texas
|
#91 | Wednesday, September 19th 2001
|
I woke up around 11:00 and heard something on the phone mail system at school (Champlain College). Aaron said something about Tvs being put all over campus, becuase of such a severe incident. I said out loud to my roommate "What incident". "The World Trade Center just got hit by a couple of planes" he says. I wanted to scream, but felt no feeling for anybody in the terriorts attack. Even now, it just does not seem real ):
|
Michael | 20 | Vermont
|
#71 | Tuesday, September 18th 2001
|
I was at work, minding my own business, trying not to muck about with international affairs, when a few latecoming co-workers mentioned that one of the towers had been hit. The first thing that came to my mind was the crash into the Empire State building. Not 5 minutes later, another co-worker charged in and told us about the second tower. From that point on, we all huddled around one streaming newscast(no TV's), and an IRC connectin for the rest of the day....
|
Ryan | 20 | Minnesota
|
#39 | Sunday, September 16th 2001
|
i woke up characteristically late (around 12:00), went downstairs, still yawning and sporting my p.j.s to find the t.v. blaring and my eldest brother flint sitting on the couch staring in disbelief at the images flashing across the screen. "can you believe this", he says. i say (grogilly), "believe what?". he says "you haven't heard?". as soon as he told me what happened i started crying. i didn't think of the buildings, i didn't think of our country being attacked, i thought of all of the scared and hurt people. i thought of those who saw the plane coming towards them, and how in that moment before they died they probably wished they could see their families and friends one last time, if only to tell them that they are loved. my soon to be stepfather was staying in the hotel that formerly stood between the two world trade center buildings. for a short while we didn't know where he was. he called after the first plane hit, but there was no word from him after the second. he told us later that night that he walked from manhattan to queens with droves of other people. he said it was just this mass exodus from manhattan, and that they all walked, shocked and horrified, away from the ruins. later that day i talked to a friend of mine who said he was washing dishes in front of his kitchen window when it happened. he used to have a great view of the skyline. now he can't look through that window without remembering what used to stand there.
all of my friends and family are okay, but it doesn't soften the blow of what happened. i will never understand why people intentionally hurt and kill one another.
|
Meg | 20 | Vermont
|
<< | < | showing 91-95 of 97 | >
search again
|
|
|
|
|
