Looking back

It is truly unbelievable to think that today marks the actual 7 year anniversary of the tragic events of 911. I remember like it was yesterday. I was in the first semester of my junior year of high school. We were in the middle of changing classes, which I was going to drafting. I walked in to the big classroom to see a group of students standing around looking up at the TV hanging from ceiling. The news was on covering the actual events as they were occurring. I remember sitting there thinking of the freak accident. Now, call me dumb or lacking any knowledge of the outside world from my small casual life in Evans, Georgia, but I hadn't even known what the world trade centers were until this point. I had heard of them before but knew nothing more than the name. I watched in amazement as the smoke billowed from the top of the tower. I just felt that it may have been a freak accident. I mean, the towers stood so tall over the city and sometimes these things happen. Little did I know this was nothing of the kind. 

I watched as a plane slammed into a tower... again. I honestly thought it was a replay of the first plane hitting, but I realized after a bit of time that a second plane had flown into the second building. I was in complete and utter shock. Even though I was young and sometimes incompetent of placing a solution to every problem, I joined the rest of the nation in curiosity of what was actually happening in lower Manhattan. The rest of the blur seems sort of a blur to my memory now, but I do in fact remember it being progress report day. My grades were slipping a little in chemistry for the first of the year, and I saw this situation as a possible relief to the punishment that was coming my way. Selfish I know, but as I said, I was younger then and not had quite the experiences yet that has edged me to be the person I am now. Not just an observer, but wanting to understand what I am encountering.

Throughout the day more and more news continued to flow through the hallways and classrooms. "These may be signs of terrorist attacks." "The towers have collapsed." "An act of evil has occurred in New York City and upon America." I felt I was stuck in a nightmare. I didn't know how to feel, what the think, or how to respond to what was happening to our country.

That night, my family went to eat at a nearby Mexican restaurant, El Valle, which I remember nothing from the meal. The only memory that lurks in my mind was viewing the news on the Hispanic channel, where I watched people jumping from the towers to the ground. Sure I had seen violence in R-rated movies and on television shows, but never had I seen people finding themselves in such situations that the best alternative choice was to jump to the end of their life. I think back to that day sometimes and still find myself in disbelief that I witnessed such a historic event, which was one of the most horrifying days of my life. 

In March of 2007, I was able to see ground zero, which is quite the construction zone and completely built up. New York doesn't waste time. There was a fire station across the street which is still defaced, and had a big plaque on the outside of the building stating "We Will Never Forget."

So many times in this world we get caught up in our own dramatic events that we blow up to be some sort of colossal event when it really makes no sense at all. I am guilty of such, and I try to remember that there is much more evil in the world to dwell on my insignificant problems. We become selfish and don't realize how good we really do have it as being Americans. The freedoms and opportunities that this country lays out for us that other countries could never live up to. If we are not careful, we will find ourselves in another civil war between what is wrong and right, democrats and republicans, liberals and conservatives, whites and blacks, when in this time we need more than anything to unite as a solid nation. When you find yourself in some type of "complication" in your life, put yourself in the shoes of one of those who dove to their death because that was a better situation than where they were. 

Alright, off my soapbox I go