9/11
Thursday, Sept. 11, 2008 12:05 PM

"I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love." - Mother Teresa

Ramona just reminded me what today is. I completely spaced out on the date today. Seven years ago today, the Twin Towers were struck down in the worst terrorist act in our country ever. Seven years ago today... How did time fly by so fast? And how much did we all forget that moment that changed the world?

I feel out of sorts about the whole thing. Here I am, safely snuggled away in the middle of the United States where it didn't affect us as much as it did the people living back east. And it's something you can't even imagine going through or experiencing unless it happens to you directly.

I remember visiting my brother when he lived in NYC and seeing the exact spot where the TT's used to stand. It was nothing but a massive crater like hole in the ground, easily mistaken for any other spot under construction in the city. How could something so horrific look so ordinary? The one thing that stood out the most to me was the sky. Surrounded by so many story tall buildings, the sky was an outsider to the streets surroundings.

The brass globe that used to stand in front of the towers was moved away from the site, on display nearby for everyone to see. It had been completely crushed that day. The artist attempted to reconstruct it, but the globe would never be the same. I took a picture of it to remind me of the moment when I finally felt connected to the real victims of that day.

I remember that day seven years ago. I remember driving to school thinking about my cousin Ross who died on 9/11 in 1999. The radio was blaring when they came on with the news about the first plane. It was completely surreal, as if I wasn't existing in that moment any longer. It wasn't until I arrived at school that it hit me that this was real. Yet, it still felt unreal at the same time, like I was living in a movie or watching one up on the TV screens. It didn't feel completely real until I called up my friend Jeremy to see if he was okay. He was working nearby the TT's at the time, and it was really difficult to get through to him because the phone lines were busy. When I finally reached him and asked him how he was doing, I could hear the chaos in the background. I was on the phone with him when the second plane hit. The noise was deafening even to me as I listened in on the other end of the line. People started screaming and crying, and Jeremy yelled that he had to go.

I'll never forget that phone call. It brought home the realization that something terrible was really happening thousands of miles away. And yet, years later... I have to be reminded of that day that changed the entire world... and of that phone call that changed mine.