September 11th, 2001.

8 years later and I still can not believe what happened in America today. 

I remember this whole day. I was in 5th grade and I was walking down the hall to the living room because I was ready for school. Mom was on the phone with Dad and all she kept saying was "What? What?" She turned on the news and the horrific picture that took over the screen will always be in my mind. Flames and smoke and people looking up in terror. Was this really New York? My mom's jaw dropped as she watched. I called for Erich so he could see what was going on and we all just sat there in silence. Finally after a few moments I asked what had happened and Mom said "They flew a plane into the World Trade Center." How does that even happen? Next, my mom called her mom to see if the family was okay, the family that lives in New York. She had said Auntie was just fine, but they couldn't find Uncle Mike. He had gone to the city for work and now nobody could get ahold of him. Mom told us that, but said not to worry and sent us to school.

I remember walking onto the playground in a daze sort of. The younger kids had no idea what had happened so they were playing around happy as a clam. But my friends and some of the other 5th graders were just standing around trying to gather what happened. Mr. Rowland had the news on so I went into his room with a few of my friends and some teachers to watch the chaos that was going on. I sat there watching the fire and watching people hanging out of the windows.. I finally had to leave the room. I thought of all the people who are in those towers, their families, the lives that they were loosing. Then I remembered that my uncle was still missing. Who knew where he was? Maybe he was safe at work, or maybe he was stuck in the subway? Or, maybe he happened to be standing where the smoke and ash and debris came flying down... I lost it. I started crying so hard because I had no idea where he was or even if he was alive. The principal came over to me to hug me and say that everything would be alright. I pulled myself together and went to class.

The rest is history.

If I have bad memories from 5th grade on the opposite side of the country, I can only imagine what it was like for the people who were there, who witnessed it, who were directly affected by it. My heart goes out to you. So many people died that day. Children, Firefighters, police men, people who didn't deserve to die but their lives were taken away because we live in a world full of hate. If this day doesn't demonstrate the extreme need for peace in the world, I don't know what does.

Everyone decided to hate President Bush during this tragedy, but I fully supported him. People said he was just an idiot who didn't do anything about it. What the hell is he supposed to do about it? He did what was right. He was respectful and calm and I thank Bush for getting a broken nation through this tough time. 

Anyway, my heart goes out to those affected by the tragedy. God Bless you and your family.