Nine eleven two-thousand one. Words that will forever hit home to so many people in this country. I was ten when the devastating events took place. At that point in my life, my biggest concern was making sure that my graffiti overalls had the correct matching shirt to go with them. Let's take a moment of silence for the fact that I even owned graffiti overalls.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Now, let's take a real moment of silence. A moment of silence for all of the first responders on that fateful day. All of the soldiers that fought and continue to fight in the wars that spurred from the catastrophic events in September, fifteen years ago. A moment of silence for all of the flight crews and passengers that were in those planes. A moment of silence for all of the people who went to work that day in or near the World Trade Center, thinking it was going to be another mundane workday. No one knew just how much all of our lives were about to change. I am fortunate to not have a direct tie to anyone who was involved in the attack on 9/11 and yet it still bothers me, every single year. While I was sitting in my 5th grade home room class, I had no idea what was going on. A girl named Julie was upset because we were being kept on lock down in the room, resulting in us being unable to go out for recess. Even in my ten year old state, I was pissed at her. I could see it in the eyes of every adult around me that this was so much bigger than a missed day of recess. I could hear the panic in their voice as they tried to reassure us that everything would be okay and that we were safe. The thing is, I think they were just trying to tell themselves that purely because none of us had any idea what was going on. No one felt the need to tell us what was happening. The only information I remember receiving was that two planes had crashed into a building. That's it. We hear of crashes and accidents all the time. I will admit that in my mind, I thought nothing of it. To be honest, I was just as confused as all of the other kids as to why all of the adults were panic stricken. They told us it had happened in New York. As a kid, I thought "That's so far from us, why are they freaking out". Little did I know that another attack would happen. It wasn't just targeted at two buildings. The monsters behind this tragedy wanted to cause as much destruction as possible which meant that we were all at risk without even being sure of it. I walked through the door of my house and my mom held me as we watched the news. I still was not grasping the magnitude of what was happening. Years had passed by, we would have a moment of silence on each anniversary, and continue on with our day. However, 8th grade was the grade that changed it all around for me. My history teacher made us have a moment of silence, per usual, and then decided to switch up the lesson. I distinctly remember him saying that he was sure that most of us did not grasp what had really happened. He told us that he knew how young we were when it happened but that he felt it was time for us to know the truth. Thinking back on it, he should have absolutely required us to get a permission slip signed for the video we were being told to watch. Again, I could hear the seriousness in his voice. This man was a man who had a voice that could shake you to your core. I don't know what it was about him but he was definitely a strong minded guy and his voice reflected that. Anytime he talked, he spoke with conviction. He had so much passion behind what he was telling us, no matter what era we were discussing that day. When the 9/11 anniversary rolled around, I was expecting him to have something impactful planned. He warned us that what we were about to see would most likely disturb us but that we needed to not be shielded from what was now part of our history. As I sat there, I watched a documentary detailing that horrible day. Most of us were able to keep it together but the end is what completely got me. The documentary filmed the buildings right after the planes had collided with them. You could hear the panic in the streets and see the smoke filling every corner of the city. Nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to see next and honestly, the shock factor is something I am grateful to my teacher for. Sometimes seeing is the most powerful way to make people understand. I saw victims choosing to jump out of a window on the 95th floor in order to avoid the flames that were engulfing the building. How do you decide something like that? How do you choose the better of the two evils? I honestly do not have an answer to that and pray to God that I never have to find out first hand. Seeing those images and live footage really made the entire event sink in for me. I was kept hidden from the horrors but my teacher was brave enough to shine some light on the events. He knew that this was not a minor thing. He knew that this was going to shape our world from that point forward and boy, did it. Fifteen years later and we still have people dealing with the residual effects. My interview for the airline was on this day last year. I flew out to San Francisco on September 10th and attempted to get a good nights rest with only one thing on my mind: get the job. I remember waking up at 4 in the morning and reading all of the memorial posts on Facebook and Instagram. I can't even deny the fact that I cried. I cry every year. This was such a monumental event in America's history and now I was about to possibly make a monumental event happen in my personal history. That morning was filled with so much sadness, anxiety, and hope. Personal hope, on a day where so much hope had been lost years before. We still have people whose family members will never fly home, drive home, walk through that door and say "Honey, I'm home!". For that reason alone, we must never forget. It gets said a lot, "Never forget". The sad thing is, people already are forgetting. Fifteen years is nothing. Fifteen years isn't even a lifetime. We need to keep the love alive for those whose lives were lost and impacted on that day. I promise to never forget all the sacrifices that were made and all of the services that were provided on that day. Thanks to my current career in aviation, it will be difficult for me to forget what happened. Years pass and the pain that those affected feel will start to fade but it will never fully go away. I pray that all of those suffering from the tragedy of September 11th will somehow find peace and hope again. I also pray that all of those resting due to the events of that horrible day, do so in peace. We will never forget: for you and your families. God bless you all.
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