We Remember

Ten years ago, I was a college junior preparing to make my way from my parents' house, where I was living after my transfer to a college back home, to campus. I had an education class then would meet my best friend and my boyfriend for lunch. My aunt called as I was getting dressed and told me to turn on the television. The cable in my bedroom caused the channel to be blurry but as I turned it on, she said, "Oh my God, a plane hit the other tower!" I tuned in just in time to see the plane hit the second tower of the World Trade Center.

I made my way to class and the infuriating thing about my class was that our education professor REFUSED to stop and let us discuss what was happening in our world. It was ridiculous. In education, they always taught us about "teachable moments," when we step away from the lesson plan and discuss something important that is happening in our world. Um, pretty sure this was a teachable moment. Classes were canceled and we all returned home or to our dorms. We spent the next week glued to our televisions, watching this attack on America unfold in front of us. We watched as people in New York suffered, and suffered with them. We were shocked at the attack on the Pentagon and could not believe the courage of the passengers of Flight 93.

Today, we remember those who lost their lives on that fateful day in America's history. We remember the firemen, the police officers, and the passengers. And we pray. I pray my son will never have to live through something like this. That he will never have to witness the extreme loss of life. That he will never be frightened the way we Americans were.

We will never forget.