September 11, 2017. 16 Years later.
I am 20 years old. Most people my age vaguely remember that day. We were all in kindergarten, preschool or even first grade. Just 4 or 5 years old. When I ask anyone my age about what they remember from that day, I always hear the same things. They were pulled out of kindergarten or weren't at school yet for the day, some parents were panicking picking up their children because they had family in Manhattan. People crying and not knowing was was going on. To be that age and be so young amidst a tragic national occurrence is hard to comprehend. We had no idea what a terrorist attack was, nor what was really happening. But one thing is for sure, even though we were 4 or 5 years old, we knew in our core that it was an extremely bad event and something was so wrong.
From that day I can recall this. I wasn't in school yet for the day and was in the kitchen with my parents. We all had just woken up, my mom was wearing her robe and my dad was still in his pajamas both getting ready for the day. Our kitchen was right next to the den where our TV was in the corner. The phone rang, it was my best friends mom and she told me mom turn on the TV turn on the TV. My mom, still on the phone, went and got the remote and turned on the news. And there it was. The most beautiful clear blue sky with not one cloud, the nicest day there had been. Soon, smoke filled the screen. The twin towers were up in flames. My mom started screaming and crying hysterically. By this time my dad had picked me up and put me on his leg to try and keep my calm because I was screaming from seeing my mom so upset. To this day I have no idea how he stayed so composed that day considering our circumstances. Our entire family lived in New York, some of which in Manhattan. All my uncles, aunts, cousins, and more. My mom grabs the phone and starts calling her family asking where they are and if they are okay. My uncle answered and thank God he was not in the city. A man who is very composed and never panics, starts screaming to my mom, "We're under attack, we're under attack!!!" My mom starts to panic more and asks if he's heard from one of their sisters and their niece who both worked in the city. She frantically calling everyone and finally gets some relief when she knows that our family is safe. I do not remember the moments the planes nor when the towers fell because I went into a daze. I do remember seeing the building up in flames and seeing my mom break down because we had no idea if my family was safe or not. I may have been 5 but the feeling of knowing your family may be in grave danger will register at any age.
My aunt and my cousin had both gone to their jobs in Manhattan that day and found out on the bus there that the building had been attacked. Many thought it was a bomb set off like there had been in the past. All the buses were redirected and taken to safety and that's when everyone knew something was terribly wrong. All cell connection had been lost and my Aunt tried frantically to call her daughter who was in another part of Manhattan. Eventually they were able to connect and found out they were both safe, and what had happened. My Aunt stood in her office with her boss, staring out the window and watching the antenna from one of the towers fall straight down into a cloud of dust as it collapsed. She lost it right in the office alongside her boss.
A family friend of mine had been in one of the towers. He was told, along with his coworkers, to stay in the building until more firefighters came because it was safer in there and no need to leave. Luckily, although in a state of pure panic, he had enough sense and stubbornness to say to his peers that he was getting the hell out of there and who's coming with me. He got dozens of his fellow workers out that day because he knew that they were not going to sit there and wait, they were going to get the hell out and go to safety. Although I do not know him all to well, I thank God every day he had the sense to get so many people including himself out of there. In my eyes he is a hero because he saved many people and didn't even know it. He then walked all the way from the towers, across one of the bridges and all the way to Jamaica Station on Long Island. The shock was so intense he was able to keep walking until he finally stopped, miles away from the towers.
Although we were all so young that day, the memory was so intense and the situation was so dire, that we truly will Never Forget. A tragedy struck us in ways we will feel for a lifetime and explain to our kids where we were and what happened. Everyone remembers exactly where they were on that day. We may not think much of it now, but we do get a little scared when we fly on planes, or go through security, or be in a highly populated venue. We all have been to the 9/11 memorial in NYC at least once, and we get chills and a solemn feeling because we know what happened there. Children younger than us don't understand any of it nor do they get the same feelings we do, but we get them because we know what can happen because it has happened already. So on this day, let us never forget where we come from. Let us be proud Americans because we did not let our nation fall that day. The flag was risen up in the ash and rubble of Ground 0 that day as a symbol of the United States refusing to fall. Let us never forget the memories of that day and continue to educate the younger generations of that day. We may have been very young that day but it is up to us to keep the lessons and memory going. Let us Never Forget 9/11 and all those who gave their lives to save others and the heroes from that day that will forever be remembered. For they were truly angels sent from God. For all those who perished and for all the survivors, may we never forget. I am proud to be an American and so proud of my beautiful and strong city of New York. America is the greatest country in the world and let us never forget that.
