September 11th

September 11, 2009. It's hard to believe it's been 8 years since that horrible day. I remember waking up and getting ready for class (I was a sophomore at Mercer) and I always put my make-up on sitting on the couch watching T.V. The first thing I saw was the Pentagon and I didn't realize what was happening. I didn't even know about the World Trade Center yet. I called my dad and asked him what was going on, and I remember him saying: "We're under a terrorist attack." That was hard to grasp because I didn't think anything like that would ever happen. I knew the United States had enemies, but never did I think they were capable of doing anything like they did. As I was driving to school and listening to the radio, the towers collapsed. When I got to my Anthropology class, a lot of people didn't even know what had happened because they'd been in class all morning....our little cocoon of Mercer...safe and sound. There were still a lot of rumors going around...like a plane headed to Chicago that would be shot down before it could crash. By the time class was over and I headed to my Chemistry lab, classes had been canceled for the day. When I got home, I decided I didn't want to be alone, so I called Aunt Charlotte. She was still working at the Base, but had stayed home that day for some reason. I packed J.R. up and went to her house and we watched the news all afternoon and evening. Uncle Tommy was at work at the Base and couldn't leave because they were under lockdown. When I got home that night, I was still kind of scared to be by myself.

The next day, classes resumed and Mercer went back to some kind of normal. I remember buying copies of The Macon Telegraph and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. I still have those. Over the next several days as I watched the coverage, I kept hoping they were going to pull survivors from the wreckage. I remembered how they pulled people from the Oklahoma City Bombing site for a few days afterwards and I was hopeful they could do the same this time. But it didn't happen.

When we went to New York City in December 2004, we visited Ground Zero and it was quite strange. I had actually been on top of the World Trade Center on a previous trip and here I stood where it used to stand. In fact, when I went to NYC with the high school band in November 2000, we drove past there. And less than a year later, it was gone.

Eight years later and I'm 27 now. We're still at war and trying to catch the people who are responsible. I'm confident it will happen one day, but I know it's going to be a long road. I'm so grateful that there are people willing to go to work every day trying to find these people. I don't think I could do it and I'm so glad my loved ones are safe and sound here. I hope everyone remembers the people who've already given their lives and those who put their life on the line every day. I hope they remember not just today, but every other day.