I was 18. I woke up around 5:30 am with an urgency to pray. I couldnt believe I was awake so early (Not Me!) and I couldnt figure out why I felt the way I did. My mom came and knocked on my door about an hour later and said something had happened. I needed to go see the news. They had thought it was just a terrible accident but it wasnt. I was glued to the television. I sat in disbelief and shock. I cried, I prayed. I mourned with the nation. I went to class that evening, American History. A classmate, (A Muslim) someone I had become friends with and had taken classes with over the previous year was not there. Ive never seen her since. My professor walked in and said Why are you all here? You are living American History. Go home and be with your families. I walked out into the lobby just as President Bush began his address to the nation. The lobby was packed. And dead silent. Everybody was turned toward the television all hoping for him to make some sense of what had occurred. To offer some comfort and tell us we were going to be ok. I squeezed through the crowd and drove home as quickly as possible to resume watching the coverage. The next couple weeks were eerie. No aircraft except the very loud rumble of military choppers that would fly in large groups towards Edwards Air Force Base. The windows would shake. To this day, I can still feel the knot in my chest that I woke up with that morning. I still can see the images. We say we will never forget, as if it is by choice. I will never forget because it is a defining moment in my life. The moment that changed my world view and shoved me violently into reality. A new light was cast on a Terrorism research paper I had written only one semester before, and for the first time, I didnt feel safe in America. Although I lived so far from ground zero, I still felt it was my tragedy. 13 years later, a lot has changed. Presidents, national security, wars.. We have watched our nation rebuild, become stronger, and weve seen true acts of kindness to fellow humanity that have reminded us that not everyone is bad. Although we are not a perfect nation and I might not agree with every political decision thats made, I am still so proud to belong here. I am so grateful for my nation. I am proud to be an American and I will never forget.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 21:35:14 +0000
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