9/11

I think everyone remembers where they were when 9/11 happened. I was awoken by my mom with a phone call telling me to watch the news. I watched the second tower fall live. I had no idea that there were people in that tower at first- I just turned on the news and had assumed the building had been evacuated. I was paralyzed with cold when I realized I had witnessed people die in an act of terrorism on US soil.

When I arrived to work I felt weird just carrying on with my day as if nothing happened. Lots of other people were on autopilot- wrapped in their research, most likely trying to keep a normal day in the most abnormal of days. But on the surface it seemed they didn't care. In my limited life experience (I had only graduated college a few years prior) they seemed cold. But how do you "properly" grieve people you don't know and can't physically help?

I'm not from NYC, nor do I know anyone from the area. But I felt a loss, as these were fellow Americans. My brother-in-law is a pilot and I immediately thought of him. I felt like I was in a stupor for days, worrying if there would be an attack in my town (I lived in a major city that was put on high alert). I remember my best friend telling me life would never be the same again. He was right.