Today, I Remember

As our Nation pauses today to remember the events of September 11, 2001, I can't help but remember where I was when I heard the news. I'm not sure why it is such a big deal to talk about "where you were" when things like this happen but for some reason it kind of is. Maybe its our personal way of remembering... to make it fresh. To make it meaningful to us. Whatever the reason, it seems to be a normal topic in conversation about important events in your life.

I was a Senior at Robinson in Mrs. Scott's Yearbook class. Mr. Dupins came in and turned on the TV just in time for us to see the second plane hit. I remember a feeling of disbelief. Realizing that the world was not what I thought it was. It was a scary feeling for this 17 year old who was about to graduate and enter the world  she thought she knew. 

Even more scary was realizing that I had been in those very buildings almost a year to the day earlier. You try not to let you mind think about the fact that it could have just as easily happened on that sunny day when your Youth Group spent a day taking pictures and wandering around. For some reason, that thought really hit home with me and made me understand the extent to which normal people just like me were involved.

It also made me remember the tour guide (with the really long bright red nails) who worked in the building. As we waited in line that day, she talked to us a lot. Made fun of us a little for being from Arkansas and took a ton of pictures of our group for us. I thought about her as I watched everything unfold that morning. I thought about her as the smoke poured out and desperate people jumped from the top. 

Just like I think about where I was that day, I think about where I was on the one year anniversary. In my dorm room at Harding. I had a break between classes and thought I'd watch Montel for a few minutes while I ate lunch.  His show was dedicated that day to remembering 9/11 and there were a lot of people from NYC on the show. Would you believe that the tour guide (with the really long bright red nails) was on that show? She worked that day. I can't remember all of the details, but somehow she helped a lot of people get out through the stairwell.

I'm a totally different person today than that 17 year old who watched the news nine years ago. That day when we waited in line for a long time to get gas because we didn't really know what was going to happen.That day when every radio station stopped  playing music and tried to make sense of it all. That day  when the world seemed like it really did stop turning for just a minute... or at least it seemed that way to me. 

I want to make a conscious effort today to stop and remember what September 11, 2001 felt like to me.

It really does make me realize that this world is not my home. I'm just a passing through.