September 11, 2001

It has been 10 years since September 11, 2001 but it feels like it has only been days.

Everywhere I turn I hear people talking about where they were when they heard the news of the attacks on the towers. I can't help but remember where I was. I don't want to say too much about the event or where we all are now, because I think a lot of people have already done that. What I write below is what I choose to remember and keep in my heart.

I was in my junior year at UCSC, living off campus with a friend. My boyfriend woke me up with a phone call and the words, "We're under attack. Turn on the TV." I responded- still groggy- with, "What? Why? What channel?" He said, "It doesn't matter." 

He was right. It was on every channel. I saw the first tower go down, and I asked him, "When did this happen?" He said, "Now. It's happening now." 

Thinking back to that day, it was the last comment that was the most powerful for me. Seeing such a tragedy in real time made me experience it in such an emotional manner. So much so that when Travis and I visited Ground Zero a year and a half later, just seeing the steel cross made me cry. I didn't know anyone who died as a result of that day, but I think we all lost a piece of our innocence. 

My heart and prayers go out to all the victims and survivors of September 11, 2001.