Remembering 9-11
That morning on the way to work.
I woke up to make my commute to Dallas to go to work at an architect firm I worked at. The drive for me at that time was 45 miles to Dallas. In and out of traffic slowly making my way. At that time the people on the road are aggressive trying to make it to work. Anger towords other drivers is felt as we cross the lanes to make it over to a faster lane to pass a slow driver. This was a daily thing for most people driving to work during the week. Sometimes traffic was bad and you would have a long wait to make it to work.
As I get closer to Dallas.
That morning as I got closer to Dallas the radio station mentions something of a plane. At that time it wasn't anything that said terrorist on American soil. It just wasn't something you expect on a normal morning. Sitting in traffic the lines are stacked on the highways. The radio doesn't really say exactly what happened. And even that morning I was distracted by just making it into work and getting past all the traffic. Not once did it occur to me that a plane was an act of terrorism. That morning I want to say I had it set to a rock station. 97.1 or 102.1 had been my main stations. Still at that time the change over American hasn't set in just yet.
Make it to work finally.
I finally make it into work. Traffic was a little different that morning. But I wasn't aware of it at the time. Later that day the news finally tells what happened. The TV was gathered around in the little kitchen area of the office. At first as all of us probably remember was mainly confusion. Till the second plane hit the tower. Then after that there wasn't really any question of what just happened. Still makes me sad when I see the video to this day of the towers falling. I remember making it home that day and locking the restroom door and crying. Even writing this now makes my eyes water today.
The days following.
The days following it felt as if America as a whole was numb. There was respect on the roads to each other. We didn't have the road rage that we carried before. It was as if we all saw each other as one and respected one another after that day. Driving home I remember a man holding an American flag waving it back and forth over a bridge before getting into my home town. Sent chills down my spine as I saw it. Who knows how long that man stood on that bridge waving his flag proudly on top of that bridge overpass. Even after all these years its something that we are still recovering from. Nothing has been the same since.
Today and our future.
I know what happend made our laws change over the past years. I know our country took a hard blow from what happened that day. But we are a strong people as Americans. Yes I agree we are a stuborn country at times when you look at it from a distance. But I feel something was taken from us. We always had a sense of security here. But after that day it has shown that safety is an illusion. In the end we have all live on this planet as one. I know at times we don't see eye to eye and some people have different views. But if we are to make into a future with no wars we have to learn to live in harmony. Yes everyone will have their differences but thats what makes us human. We never expected this to happen on our land. We need to make a better future for our future generations to learn from our mistakes made along the way. Even though it was meant to divide us it also brought us together as a country. We saw people for who they were for months after 9-11. Wars have been fought because of what happened. And we continue to fight still. Hopefully one day we all learn to get along and live on this planet peacefully.
