Seven Years

It's been seven years since the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Seven years. I can still remember everything about that day, even down to what I was wearing. I think it's one of those days that people will always be able to tell you where they were when they saw the news footage for the first time, what they did when they heard it, who they called first, and how they dealt with it. I will remember watching Tom Brokaw and Peter Jennings being on the air for hours on end, never leaving their news desks. I sat in Broward Hall dorm for hours watching the news with my friends. Nobody really knew what to say or do. We gave blood at the impromptu blood donation center they set up in the basement- even Sarah (who's not such a fan of needles) donated. I remember my brother and his ROTC friends speculating about what might happen when they found out who did it. Speculation turned into action years later, when my brother spent a year in Baghdad, coming home this past spring.

I'm watching "9/11- As it Happened" on MSNBC right now. They're running actual footage from the day of- the second plane just hit the second tower- and they still have no clue what's going on. They're just all sitting around the newsroom, taking calls from people, hearing what's happening. They were in the middle of a conversation with a woman when the second plane hit. I read a lot of articles and looked at a lot of photo archives this morning... it never stops being horrifically sad. The day of and week of deaths at Ground Zero, The Pentagon, and Pennsylvania were only the beginning of a series of events that would result in the loss of 1000's more lives... and sadly, the war is still being faught.

They just took a call, stressing that it was unconfirmed, from American Airlines, saying that they had a hijacked plane. Since I remember the day of, I know Katie Couric and Matt Lauer are about to see and hear the towers fall. I remember my reaction... it's still stunning. It amazes me that people were able to keep their cool during that day. I think of people who lived in New York City then, and I think of Sarah and my other friends living there now. I can't fathom how that day was for people who lived there, people who had friends and family that they couldn't get ahold of right away. The people who had offices and apartments in the area, the tourists who just wanted to see the city, the people who were just going to work like they did every other day. I've been to New York many times- it's a crazy enough city on a normal day... I can't imagine being there in a time of crisis.

Sigh. I could go on and on about the attacks, how they made me sad, pissed off, angry, confused, and so many other things, all at the same time. I could post links to pictures of children waving flags, of firemen crying, of the president speaking, of memorials set up everywhere, of firehouses. But I'll post another picture instead- of what New York City used to look like.... it was so pretty. I don't think about the attacks every day... but I do a lot, because of what has happened in the ensuing years. I do get sentimental when the anniversary rolls around, because it feels more fresh, more real. No matter how many times I see that footage, it never becomes easier to digest.