On September 11, 2001 I was sitting in my history classroom (8th grade). My friend Shannon, who was late to class because of a doctor’s appointment, came in and whispered something to our teacher Mr. Jackson. He told her not to say anything to the rest of the class (I guess he wanted to keep the class calm -_-). Like I said, Shannon was my FRIEND so of course she came and told me what had happened. I had so many mixed emotions. The first thing I thought about was my mom. We had just moved to New Jersey 2 months prior but she still worked in the city. Then I started thinking what would have happened if I still lived in New York.

As soon as we got out of class I picked up my cell phone and called my mom. She had been evacuated from her building all the way on the other side of the World Trade Center. She told me to pack my things and go to my uncle’s house because she would be coming home late or not coming at all. When school was over I went home and did as she said. I got to my uncle’s house and then went to the field with my friends to watch the Pop Warner football practice. I don’t think I really understood how BIG this was. I knew the buildings were important but I still hadn’t seen any footage of what had happened.

I got home from the field and turned on the news to see them replay the planes crashing into the buildings and started to cry. The site of people running for their lives was just crazy to me. I called my mother again and she told me that she was walking across the George Washington bridge because cars weren’t allowed to drive on it. I told her I loved her and went to lay down. I fell asleep that night crying because I honestly didn’t know if my mother was going to make it home or not.

I woke up the next morning and got ready to go to school. I called my mother and she was at work again. I didn’t want her to work in NY anymore because I was scared that this would happen again. I arrived at school and life went back to “normal.” Unfortunately, life didn’t go back to “normal” for A LOT of people.

We each have our own stories of where we were, what we were doing, which family members were affected, etc. Let’s just reflect,  thank God for life, and cherish each moment we have left on this earth with our loved ones.

*RIP 9/11 victims.

God bless those people who lost their loved ones.

God bless all the people who volunteered.

God bless the people in the buildings who SURVIVED.

God bless America!

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