where were you...

four years ago...

sometimes it seems like just yesterday when the twin towers exploded into a mess of terror and terrorism, as two airplanes brought the mighty landmarks down... on an anniversary such as this we always ask ourselves where we were when we heard... being early september, i was just dipping my toes into a new year of school... my last year come to think of it... i was an O.A.C. student with few classes and even less desire to attend them... as i walked out to my green dodge shadow for some "fresh air" it was apparent that something had happened... there was a crowd around this one girl who was broadcasting the news to everyone that two of the biggest buildings in the world had recently become piles of rubble... not believing her tall tale, we flipped on the radio in my car and suddenly reality set in...

destruction... death... as the insane thought that the two towers i had taken tourist shots of only a summer previous to that day took shape, it dawned on me that my father had been flying that morning on business... i immediately called my brothers to make sure that the unimaginable had not hit home... he was ok - grounded in chicago with no place to go, but nonetheless ok...

the rest of the day unravelled in a blur... i wasn't able to catch a true glimpse of the world altering event until i eventually made my way home and flipped on any channel on the television... the visuals were haunting... new yorkers running for their lives, debris crashing to the surfaces below, desperate souls jumping out of windows to their death... it was intense, unbelievable and catastrophic... suddenly the world felt so vulnerable and so sensitive... news anchors could barely spell out what was happening... i will never forget the amateur footage that showed one of the airplanes as it crashed into the first tower... it was as though the trade center swallowed the jet only to spit out fire and a fury of debris...

there were no words... i would cry but nothing healed the pain and suffering that was captured by the thousands of people searching for their loved ones... i have not had the chance to visit new york since the tragic day, but i remember my father saying that when he arrived in the city for a business trip only months after the devastation, the city was undeniably altered... the smell of ground zero was indescribable and the loss that touched the lives of the men and women he worked with in the financial district was heartwrenching... it only took a moment for the world to be forever changed... and it only take a moment to remember how it all felt as it unfolded...

four years ago... may the innocent men and women who lost their lives rest in peace...