10 Years Later

Ten years ago today, I was a senior sitting in Spanish class. A phone call about the first plane hitting the World Trade Center prompted my teacher to turn on the television. We watched as the second plane exploded into the second tower.  And then we went back to spanish adverbs and adjectives. When the next call came about the pentagon, we abandoned our futile tries at learning, and took turns on the phone calling parents who worked at the Pentagon.

Over the years, I've spoken with people about their experiences on Sept 11, an event we have all been changed and affected by. I've always tried to explain the terror of that day for those of us on the east coast, how normal it is for me to often reflect on the possibility of another terrorist attack.  The pentagon is only 10 miles from my home....it is an easy fifteen minute drive.  Several parents from my school and community were lost that day.  I remember a man from church, was saved by having been out of his office at the time, another twenty feet closer and he too would have been gone.

There are so many vivid snapshots from that day. Asking fellow students if they had heard from their parents. Praying in the hallway with friends and being told to "keep it contained." Holding hands with my dad as he picked us up from school and clinging to his strength. The irony of such a beautiful, cloudless day.  I remember calling my estranged older brother, hoping against hope that he would come home to be with us. Yes, he had seen the fire of the pentagon from his work, and no, he still wasn't coming home.

And yet, September 11 is also a day of hope. Life continues, and we remember those lost and support those who continue to keep this country safe.  It's a time to reflect, to see that we are not defined by one terrible act of violence.  We have grown, loved, and lived over the last decade and will keep on doing so. A moment of silence, of honor, and a thankful prayer that God has not forgotten, He is bigger than all these things.