Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

Tomorrow is September 11th, a day I shall always remember. It just seems that around here, it's not such a big deal. However, when you point that out, everyone gets defensive and says "of course it is!" Well, it's important to me, even though I wasn't directly affected.
The morning of September 11th, I was walking to work, and at 6:15, one of the parents walks in and says "have you seen the news?" So my mom and I look at the tv and see one of the buildings on fire. My mom and I didn't understand, so we watched the news. I was only in 8th grade at the time, so I didn't understand what was really happening that morning. I just thought it would be a big discussion at school. I didn't realize what was happening in those towers, I didn't realize people were fighting for their lives, trying to escape the fire and smoke. I didn't understand the significance of the event.
Now that I am 18, I realize what really happened that morning. Ordinary people stepped onto their planes, getting ready for a day of travel. Then, in the blink of an eye, the cockpit is taken over during mid flight and the terrorists and in charge. Then, Flight 11 hits the north tower of the world trade center, killing hundreds of people on inpact. Next hits another plane, Flight 175, but this time in the south tower. Only then do people realize it wasn't an accident. During all the commotion, another plane, Flight 77, smashes into the Pentagon, leaving it's deadly mark in it's walls. Last, a plane filled with brave passengers (flight 93) hits a field in Pennsylvania, since the people took over the cockpit and crashed the plane while fighting for their lives.
The people in the towers must have been scared. They only heard the plane and saw debris, no one knew what had happened. So they stayed at their desks, until the smoke came. Only one stairway was available, and none of the elevators were working. The smoke filled the room fast, as people desperately looked for a way out. Some never made it out, because they didn't know which stairway to use. Others only made it halfway down, then either gave up and waited for rescue, or were crushed by the collapse. Only a certain number made it out safely.
The first to collapse was the South Tower, which ironically was the second tower to be hit. People in this tower could hear a rumbling from above, and then millions of tons of steel crushed them all at once. The people in the north tower could only hear this, and they had no idea what was happening. Then, only a few minutes later, that building collapsed, takin the lives of hundreds.
Sometimes I wonder what the emergency workers were thinking as they walked up the stairs into hell. I'm sure most of them were scared, knowing there was a possibility they might not come back out. And they were right. 343 firefighters died that day, saving lives in the time allowed. No one knew the towers would collapse, people only thought it would sway a little. The steel inside the buildings weren't fire resistant, and since the fire was in direct contact, the steel was weakened and then collapsed.
And what did the families feel when they realized their loved ones were still in there, trying to get out? The horrible thought that the love of your life was dead, it's just impossible to bear. And for many, this thought was true. So many people lost someone they loved that day, so many people's hearts were crushed as the twin towers collapsed. September 11th was a horrible time...
Tomorrow is September 11th, and most people here don't care. But I care, and I light a candle every year just for them. I pray, I cry, I let it get to me. Because those people deserve to be remembered, they deserve to know I care.