Ten Years Later: I Remember.

I remember..... where I was that day. I had just gotten to my dorm. Like usual, I set my breakfast down on my desk, turned on the "Today Show" as I set about making sure I was prepared for a speech I had to give that morning. Matt and Katie kept me company in the background as I went over my notes.

I remember.....I got up and walked over to my fridge and had opened it and bent down to grab a Dr. Pepper when I heard the words, "We have breaking news that a plane has crashed into the World Trade Center...." I stood up, thinking I MUST have heard wrong. And then pictures started popping up on screen of a smoke filled NYC. I stood there frozen. The door to my refrigerator wide open and a Dr. Pepper in my hand. This couldn't be real, could it? No idea how long I stood glued to my kitchen floor with cold air still escaping from my fridge, but eventually I snapped out of it long enough to close it, and sit down at my desk turning up the volume, and watched in horror as news reports came pouring in with horrific images to accompany them. I remember gasping as I watched the second plane hit, and thinking, "How much worse can it get?" My answer came shortly after when the buildings collapsed.

I remember.....My speech was forgotten. Getting ready for that seemed so incredibly inconsequential compared to what was going on. I looked at the clock and noticed that I'd been glued to the T.V. for close to an hour and it was well past time for me to leave for class. I gathered up my stuff, made sure I had my phone with me and hurried out the door....The T.V. was still on.

I remember.....Getting to the Dan Rather building and barely being able to get to my class because people were gathered outside an office glued to a T.V. seeing everything unfold.

I remember.....Two girls in my class had relatives working in NYC and they were beside themselves.

I remember.....Getting up and numbly giving my speech. What usually made me a nervous wreck was something I just did on that day....I didn't care HOW I did either, all of us were on auto-pilot (you could tell from the dazed look everyone that got up to gave a speech had on their face. We all just wanted out of there).

I remember...... leaving that class and going directly to my second (and final) class of the day....It was canceled.

I remember....Heading straight to the LSC and looking to see which line was shortest (pizza). I grabbed one, paid, and headed back to my dorm as quickly as I could get there.

I remember..... that being one of the few days I didn't make my usual trip to the library to study.

I remember....My T.V. and more nightmarish images of that day still blaring as I unlocked my door and went inside. It wasn't a dream, it was a nightmare and people were living it.

I remember.....America changed forever that day, WE ALL changed forever that day.

I remember. I have never forgotten.

My thoughts and prayers are with those that lost loved ones ten years ago, and that ache every day because of it. May God continue to comfort those who mourn, and protect those who serve. God bless America!