Remembering 9/11

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It's hard to believe it has been 11 years since the 9/11 attacks, I remember them quite vividly as I'm sure many of you do.

I was just starting 8th grade and had the flu so was planning on staying home. My Mom was in her bathroom getting ready and I was sleeping in her bed when the phone rang.  

On the line was my Grandma calling to tell us to turn on CNN that a plane had crashed into the Twin Towers. At the time the second plane hadn't hit and many people thought it was just an accident. We had been viewing the footage for only a minute when the second plane hit and that's when everyone knew this was no accident.

I remember feeling confused, my Mom said it was a terrorist attack and I didn't really know what that meant. The footage was scary but I couldn't take my eyes away from it.

Instead of staying home alone, Grandma came and took me to her house so I wouldn't be left alone watching the news with no one to explain it to me. In fact my grandmother was given specific instructions from my mother to not allow me to watch the news all day. I of course wanted to watch the news and my Grandma gave in and let me sit with her all day watching.

My Grandma was worried about her friend, Phyllis, who was in New York at the time and according to her itinerary was supposed to visit the Twin Towers that very morning. Of course with so many people having loved ones in the city the phone lines were busy and it was a long time for us to get confirmation that she was okay. Thankfully we were one of the lucky ones, Phyllis had awoken with a migraine that morning and had decided against visiting.

Of course it wasn't just the Twin Towers that were attacked that tragic day, there was also the Pentagon and United Flight 93 that went down in Philadelphia. So many senseless lives lost that day at the end of evil. So although 11 years have passed no one will ever forget.

"Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th. We will remember every rescuer who died in honor. We will remember every family that lives in grief. We will remember the fire and ash, the last phone calls, the funerals of the children." - President George W. Bush, November 11, 2001

Q: Where were you when you found out about September 11th attacks?

Erin x