September 11, 2001

It happened on a Tuesday morning and I was two weeks into my senior year in high school.

I woke up especially early that day to Erika and dad arguing about the television.  It was around 6:30.  I rolled out of bed to find out what all the commotion was in the living room.  Dad was telling her to turn the TV off because it's a distraction while we were getting ready for school.  Erika was telling him that it was the news and this situation was actually happening.  I walked in as the third plane smashed into the Pentagon.  We just sat there in awe.  It was unreal watching this happen.  Erika had told us that two planes hit the World Trade Center buildings in lower Manhattan.  We saw the footage from New York, Washington and a fourth plane that crashed in a town I've never heard of until that day, Shanksville, Pennsylvania.   I wanted to know more.

Doug got up early just to see what was going on.  He woke up from all the talking as well.  We all ate cereal and sat around watching what was unfolding on the TV.  Just before 7 a.m. the south tower collapsed and we all just sat there with our mouths open, it had burned for 56 minutes.  What did we just see?  Was it even possible for those buildings to fall like that?  All of those people trapped...all of those helpless people and pilots on board those planes, just horrible.  About another half hour later the north tower collapsed, the same manner as the other tower, that one burned for 102 minutes.  I wonder why that one burned longer?  I just couldn't fathom being one of those people trapped in the buildings above the impact zone or the passengers on those airplanes and what they did with the last minutes of their lives before they perished.  I never want to feel like I have no control over a hijacking or being stuck in an office building with no way down.

We all finally got ready for school after being glued to the TV since 6:30.  We watched the news up until we actually had to get in the truck to head to school.  School started at 8:30 in Rainier. 

We didn't do a darn thing in school except watch the chaos unfold on the TV's.  I even remember sitting in a classroom at lunch time watching a television.  We were watching history happen with our very own eyes.  Every generation has their "September 11th".  In the 20th century, we had the sinking of the Titanic, WWI, WWII, the Great Depression slavery, Kennedy being shot, Vietnam War, devastating earthquakes, tsunami's, bombings and other memorable life shattering moments in time.  Depending on who you ask, they will tell you exactly what they were doing when that moment occurred.

I can tell you exactly what I was doing on September 11, 2001 it was just an ordinary day until I woke up that morning.