story8556.xml

story8556.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-10-22

September 11, 2001 was a horrifying, life changing day for the world and especially for the United States of America. I witnessed this day much differently than other people. That morning I was going about my normal business in the seventh grade at the middle school. At around 10a.m., my grade went outside for bus evacuation. Everyone was seated on the bus, and the bus driver announced that our country and our lives would be drastically changed forever because someone just crashed an airplane into the World Trade Center towers. My classmates and I were in complete shock! It didn't seem like something this unthinkable could happen. At that time I did not know what the World Trade Center towers actually were. My classmates and I wanted to know as much information as possible about what had just happened. My teachers were only allowed to tell us as much information as they were advised to. So for the rest of the day all my classmates and I were wondering what was going on in our country. My math teacher told us that we were witnessing history right then and there. Emotions and thoughts were going through everyone's heads. One of my teachers cell phones rang and it was her son telling her that he was okay. Right then I knew how serious the crash was to our nation.
Everyone tried to get their mind off of things and went about their school work for the rest of the day, but it was really hard to focus. Some people were wondering if their families were safe and alive. That was a scary thing to think about for everyone. After school I rushed home and watched TV. Every channel showed what had happened that morning. I couldn't believe my eyes! My first thought was why is this happening? Then the news said they were terrorist attacks and that people had hikkacked the airplanes and flew into the towers, the Pentagon, and a field in Shanksville, Pennyslyvania. My mouth dropped and I couldn't believe anyone would ever do such horrible things. It seemed like it was a bad nightmare, but it was actually happening. The television kept showing the planes crashing into the towers over and over again. Each time I watched, my heart filled with hate. It also showed many people, police, and firefighters running for there lives with smoke, dust, and rubble behind them. I have never seen anything quite like that. It also showed a lot of people shedding tears and praying that loved ones were safe and that they would soon come home. I felt so horrible for the families who lost their innocent loved ones because of mean and selfish act. I saw everything I never thought would be imaginable. After watching television, there were so many thoughts and emotions going through me. I was just so overly shocked, scared, and especially very sad! It seemed like nothing would ever be the same again. After that day our lives were changed forever!
My life was personally changed in many ways because of the tradgedy of September 11. I now live life each day as if it were my last, and I don't take anyone or anything for granted, especially my family and friends.Without my family and friends, it would have been very hard for me to get through that terrible time. Grieving, praying, and sharing others thoughts together with them made it a lot easier to heal, not only my heart but their's as well. We all got through it together, but it was hard and took a long time. Now I know that if I'm ever going through a hard time, my family and friends will be there for me and help me through things. I now pay more attention to safety and security has been increased and people are a lot stricter about it than they were in the past. Whenever I have to fly an airplane in the future, I am not going to feel as secure as I did before that day. I also became much more patriotic after that day. I am proud to be an American living in such a strong country. Seeing the flag now standing tall in the air with pride makes me realize all those brave people who risk there lives everyday to fight for our country.
There are so many things that should be remembered about 9/11. The most important thing is that we should remember all the innocent people who died on that day. I cannot even express the words I feel for there families. I am very fortunate that I did not loose anyone. All the people who helped rescue the people are my heros. We wil never forget 9/11! Our hearts will live on forever.