A Day of Remembrance

I remember when my freshman college roommate came into our room and changed the TV station to CNN.

On the screen, the first tower had already fallen. The second was in flames. All the commentators were saying was it was deliberate. The rest was speculation. I saw the second tower fall, though now I don't know if I actually saw the tower fall, or if it is the replayed video that's been burned into my memory.

I watched the news from 10:00 in the morning until about 3:05 in the afternoon when I had to go to my English class. I left late and walked slow, looking around at the sky, the campus buildings, the people wandering, eyes wide and red from crying. The campus was still. No music blared from dorm rooms. No bright red Frisbees sailed across the quad.

My English class was cancelled. The profesor sat with students who chose to stay in order to discuss what was happening--I didn't stay. I went back to my post on the bed, watching non-stop coverage of the chaos.

I remember watching footage of the devastation of the Pentagon, thankful my dad wasn't in the military anymore. I learned a couple of years later my father-in-law was at the Pentagon that day and, thankfully, unharmed.

I remember seeing the wreckage of a plane somewhere in Pennsylvania, plans of terrorists thwarted by the spontaneous bravery of civilians who got on the plane that morning with the simple intent of flying from one place to another.

In the days, weeks, months that followed, Americans rallied together to begin picking up the pieces following the attacks. People carried American flags with them, pinned to their backpacks, or flag pins on their lapels. Paper candles were taped in nearly every window on campus. The flag stood proudly day and night, dozens of candles burning at its base. Patriotic music replacedhip hop and pop in dorm windows. I half-expected to see posters for Greek rush events to be replaced by posters urging civilians to vote, join the military, and support our military, police, and firefighters.

The televisions in the dining hall were set to CNN Headline News for weeks. Students ate in near silence, watching the names of fatalities run longer and longer before repeating. And people murmured that it shouldn't have taken the attacks to bring the people together. People shook their heads at their own arrogance that we didn't see it coming, that we thought it would never happen to us.

Now, seven years later, we're still picking up the pieces. Families can never again be waiting at the airport gate. When a plane goes down, terrorism instantly springs to mind.

And our troops are still overseas, fighting. I pray they will all come home safe, and soon. And until then, as I watch for their return, I thank the Lord for men and women brave and loyal, protecting me.