9/11....Where were you?

Well, I figured since today is 9/11 I should put behind me the petty MIL BS and take some time to reflect. Today I think about all those people who lost lives as well as those who lost parents, children, friends, etc. It was a most horrific thing and though I do not live near NYC, it hit me hard all the same. Where were you that day? 8 years have passed but I remember it like it was yesterday. I doubt there is a single person who doesn't remember where they were when they heard the news.

I was in my first semester of nursing school. My first semester away from home and meeting new people. I was 21 years old and having the time of my life. The summer previous to going away to school, my family took summer vacation out east. Among our stops, NYC. I can still remember how I felt the first time I came out out of the train station. I was overwhelmed and amazed. I am not a country girl, but have never been surrounded by big city life like that before. I learned quickly I would never survive on my own and was thankful it was merely a vacation. To this day, I remember the way the streets smelled, the sound of cars passing by you as you walked the streets. Never will forget how impressed I was with much of the architecture and the mere grandiosity of the city. It was a wonderful vacation but I have no desire to return to the city.

On the morning of 9/11 I got up early for my 8am class. Did my usual routine, shower, dress etc. As I opened my closet to choose a shirt, I came across a shirt I had picked up in NYC that summer. I held the shirt in my hand and started the the letters across the front...N-Y-C. My stomach did a little turn. I found it odd and started thinking more deeply. Something told me it was going to be important for me to wear that shirt. I had not worn it since before moving away so it was kind of unusual that I would choose it. I put it on, finished gathering my supplies and headed out the dorm door. As I was walking across campus that day, something was just nagging at me. I didn't know what it was at the time and brushed it aside.

As I entered my class, I gathered with my new friends and talked about what we were going to be doing in class that day. Our teacher was a real hard ass. To this day, she is the rudest teacher I have ever encountered. She never smiled, never joked, never allowed anyone to relax and enjoy the learning process. As she entered our classroom she had a look on her face that I will NEVER forget. It was fear and sorrow all rolled up into one look. She looked tired and confused. I think everyone in the room knew something terrible was wrong. She was quiet a minute and finally announced that class was cancelled. She asked us as a class to go to our university center and find the big screen TV. Confusion hit all of us. She said something terrible was happening to our nation...and like a flash, she was gone. We all moved to the TV and not a single word was said. I sat with my classmates that day in total awe of the situation. We sat 2 hours without saying a word. Finally, as we started to separate and head home a friend saw my shirt. She could not believe her eyes! I, of course, finally understood the reason for my turned stomach earlier in the morning. I explained my story to my friends and we were all in shock. I spend the rest of the day in my dorm room with an entire wing of new friends sitting crammed around my 13 inch TV. It was a bonding moment for us. Some talked, some said nothing, some cried, some couldn't take the horror and left.

I will never forget that feeling when I saw that big TV and what had happened. Never forget what it was like to see that second plane hit that tower. Never forget those images, which played and re-played for so long. It was tragic and awful and no....WE WILL NEVER FORGET!

GOD BLESS AMERICA! And thank you to all those troops who continue the fight to keep us safe.