I've grown up hearing my dad talk about how he'll always remember where he was when certain world events happened - like Armstrong's first step on the moon, or Kennedy being shot.
The one event in my own life I can relate to my dad's stories are 9/11. I was 18 years old. I felt like I had the world at my fingertips. Just a freshman in college, I had barely left the security of my parents home when this event rocked America and our world as we knew it.
I lived on the top floor of the freshman dorm. Everything was still so new. It was the first week of class. I was meeting new people everywhere. College life was in full swing and I paid no attention to the outside world. My mom often referred to it as the W&L bubble.
My neighbor came in our room and asked if we had seen what happened. Sitting on the foot of my twin bed, we watched as the planes crashed into the Twin Towers. We were stunned. I knew that my dad was travelling with work that week, so I immidiately got on the phone to make sure he was ok. His plane had been grounded in NC and he was renting one of the last available rental cars to make the drive back to GA.
Going to school in VA, there were kids from all over the East Coast. We heard stories of W&L alum that worked in the Twin Towers. I knew one girl in my freshman class whose parents both worked in the Pentagon. Her mom could see the blast site from her desk. Thankfully, both of her parents were not hurt.
This morning, 11 years later, I drove to work listening to recaps on the radio with tears streaming down my face. I don't need to see the replays to know exactly what each plane looked like and how the towers fell. I remember it like it was yesterday. The most touching part of the memorial I heard was the family members reading the names of those lost that day. So very powerful.
I will always remember where I was on 9/11. I will always be shocked by that day. And I will always remember how people responded. Helping strangers, praying for loved ones and responders, praying for our country. Something changed in Americans that day. I hope we always remember.
