9/11

11 Years ago I got up, actually I probably hadn't slept much thanks to my delightful son who was 6 months old, got both kids dressed, I probably fed them and played with them.
The TV was on and I was getting us all ready to head in to Hoboken for a visit. Hoboken is located across the Hudson in New Jersey. It is one of those places where you get the most perfect view of Manhattan and especially the Twin Towers. It's almost a rite of passage to take you child up to Stevens College and have THAT picture taken.
Of course I saw on the news that a plane flew into one of the towers. My first thought was holy shit, someone flew the wrong way. Accidents happen all the time, this was a major accident.
Only it wasn't an accident. Then the second plane hit and at this point I was in the car on my way. I kept driving, thinking I wasn't going all the way to Manhattan so I should be fine.
I never made it to Hoboken.
The drive into Hoboken gives you a spectacular view of the Manhattan skyline, a view that I always thought was the best ever. To me that view signified a huge part of my younger years. Living and working in Manhattan, that view was my home.
On this particular day, however, the view changed. As I'm driving, listening to the radio, looking at the towers off to my right, all of a sudden I hear the announcer goes "oh my god", and then the first tower fell. Actually it didn't fall as much as it crumbled. Like one of those towers you build for your children for them to knock over. Or a game of Jenka where the last move was just made.
Only there was no cheering this time. Instead all cars came to a halt, people got out of their cars and started screaming and crying. It was the most surreal thing I have ever seen. Like a scene out of a movie. In slow motion. It's a memory I don't like going back to, but sometimes I make myself do it just to remember how fortunate I am. I didn't know anyone who got hurt that day.
Eventually the police had all us motorists turn around and go back home. Back to our homes where we gathered with friends and felt numb. Numb for days. And scared. There's is nothing more eerie than living under one of the worlds busiest airspaces and not hear a single plane for weeks. Only military flights up above us.
Then the patriosm kicked in. American flags were everywhere. Songs were sung and the people came together and vowed to be united and not let the Terrorists win.
Nobody won that day. Not even the people who were brainwashed to carry out these acts, not their families who had to live with the knowledge that their loved one could do something like this. As the weeks and months went on and bodies were recovered it became clear that America was changed forever. 11 years later and I still haven't seen the site of where the Towers once stood. The towers with the most magnificent views. The Towers where, if you stood leaning against them and looked up, you would fall over. The Towers that were the place of work for so many people who never came home and those who did would be forever haunted by the sight of flames, death and people jumping to their deaths.
It was a horrible day and it's important to always remember.
It's also very important to remember that acts of terrorism like this happens every single day all over the World. Just because it's not on the same scale doesn't make it any less horrifying or important.
Every single day people lose loved ones who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Their very own 9/11, only it could be any day of the year.
Take a momen today and give you loved ones an extra hug and spend some extra time with them. You never know what tomorrow brings.