I miss you.
15 years.
I was in 2nd grade on September 11,2001. It was a normal, sunny California day, and I had woke up to the TV blaring downstairs. My brother and I were supposed to be getting ready to go to school, but for whatever reason, my mom had forgot to wake us up. I walked over to my brother’s room, shook him hard, and told him to wake up. It was already 7:30AM, and we had to be in school by 9AM. After brushing my teeth, I walked downstairs, looked at the scene on the TV, and my jaw dropped in horror.
I saw WTC 1 and 2 crumble down, the Pentagon in flames, and a plane in a field in the middle of nowhere, Pennsylvania. As scary as this all seems now, as a young 7 year old, I was confused.
My mom, clearly shaken, was on the phone with her aunt, who lives in The Bronx. Her aunt constantly reassured her that everyone was alright. She proceeded to call my aunts in Pennsylvania, who all lived in the Philadelphia area, and she was met with good news from all of them. While on the phone, my mom informed us that there was no school today and my dad, who left work at 5AM, was on his way home.
My brother and I watched in silence at the TV while my mom was on the phone, waiting for some sort of direction from my mom. Words and names I heard before, Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda, terrorist attacks, words that meant little to me before was all I heard on the news now. My brother, who was in 5th grade, slowly began to explain to me what was going on: members of the terrorist organization al-Qaeda had crashed four planes. Two went to the World Trade Center, one hit the Pentagon, and one, which was allegedly en route to Washington, DC, was crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. I remember that I began to cry (I was a huge crybaby anyway back in the day), and asked my brother why anyone would do something like this. He held me tightly as we both watched the TV screen replay the horrific images.
15 years later, as an adult, I can fully understand the happenings of that day. 15 years later, when I think about it, it still brings immense melancholy upon me. 15 years later, I realize that I was alive for the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
My sister and I recently visited New York in August after my cousin’s wedding, and we both wanted to go to the Freedom Tower. We had been to Ground Zero when a small memorial was set up, and the construction of the tower hadn’t began. We later went when construction had began, and now, we wanted to see the tower in it’s entirety, as well as the fully built memorial.
As we approached the memorial, my mood of happiness quickly made a turn for the worse. A tsunami sized wave of sadness crashed upon me, and as we stood at the fountain and read the names of the people whose lives were lost that day, I began to tear up. My sister and I stood in complete silence for 5 minutes, taking a moment to remember and pay respect to the hundreds of peoples who lost their lives that horrific day.
But many of the people who were there were so happy, taking selfies with their selfie sticks and chatting like nothing happened. No respect was shown, no reminiscing was done. It horrified me. 15 years ago, a horrific thing happened in the very spot where we were all standing, and all they were doing was taking selfies in front of a fountain that wasn’t made out of happiness. I realize that maybe people look at the brighter side of things, but there is no bright side to these attacks. This memorial site is not a place to be chipper and happy; it’s a place to pay respect and to realize that life is so unexpected. I expected people to be quiet and paying respect, but instead I got the opposite, and it horrified me.
But looking at the Freedom Tower, it made me hopeful. It showed me that no matter what we go through, as a country, we can rebuild and persevere, even it times of distress. The United States is plagued with economic, social, and political problems, but this country is the best country in the world. My parents came here 20+ years ago to make a better life for their kids, and they did so successfully. Despite the problems here that need to be changed, I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else but here. Today, I feel the most united with all the citizens of this country.
Today, I am proud to be an American.
Jess B 