Remembering Sept 11th

I remember where I was Sept 11th; I was working/interning for National Park Foundation at the time (which is in Washington D.C.).

We saw it on television at work, and it just didn't really click in my head at the time what happened--I was in semi-shock. (NPF was in North West part of D.C. back then).

My company let everyone off, and we all tried to scramble to get home.
For a couple hours I thought I could not get out of the city, and get home (I live in Northern VA) because I had heard on the news that they had block the main highways out of the city. Luckily after a while it was reported that the roads were not blocked or unblocked so I was able to get home.

It wasn't until I got home and watched the news more that I got over my initial shock and finally understood. I remember crying when I saw people in the smashed buildings jumping out of the windows of the towers, and hearing more about the pentagon, and then the crash of last plane in PA.

My sister at the time lived in NYC--you could imagine what she must have went through. Traffic was blocked for days, some people walked miles to get home.

I knew two people from my undergrad college that worked in the world trade center. One of them was sick so didn't go to work that day. The other one was running late since she had stopped to get coffee.

I remember in the weeks afterwards, military with huge guns on some of the street corners of D.C. just standing guard. I thank those soldiers for their presence in the aftermath. Their presence made me feel safer.

Through all the pain, I remember the good things too. How we all got together and stood as a people.

I was in Chicago recently for my grandfather's funeral, and on one of the days there my aunt and uncle showed us around their area. There was a sept 11th memorial. There was a flame burning, a flame as a reminder to remember those events.

Many swore on that day to never forget. Please take a moment with me to pray to all those that we lost.

Li