That Tuesday on Sept. 11

When I was a junior in High School, god parents JA and GG took me and NQ to Wall Street to observe the inside of the stock market – the so-call pit. The trip was mostly geared for NQ’s interest in the trading markets. I just tagged along for the sightseeing and who could refuse a trip with JA and GG? It was fun, educational, entertaining and always intuitive. After chatting with JA’s stockbroker and surviving "the pit" tour, we took a taxi cab to downtown. We stopped at the foot of the World Trade Center.

I remember looking up and up and up, unable to see the top -- wondering at the amazing architectural feat of engineering standing before me. I could’ve sworn that the twin towers were swaying back and forth in the sky as I look up. Face to face with these twin giants, we finally decided to take the tour up to the towers. I forget which one we went on, but we actually went to the 72nd floor or something like that. From the window looking down, I felt like a small bird watching over the city. It all seemed like I could take my boyfriend up to the tower one day and just hang out at the food court.

September 11, 2001. 8:30 am. I was getting ready for my Inorganic Chemistry class, all showered and incompleted homework in my bag (I didn’t get to finish it the night before because, yeah…) My roommate NQ turned on the TV to CBS The Early Show. I saw WTC, one tower standing, the other on fire with a hole near the top. It was the jetliner that made the firing hole. Before NQ and I could make a reaction, another jet dived into the other tower, and we all knew. My heart dropped, and I just walked out of the dorm without saying a word. Even Steven Spielberg can not do a stunt like that. I found myself at the CUB desk sitting on the couch (instead of sitting in my Chem class, which was cancelled anyway). I overheard someone said that a plane has hit the Pentagon, and I lost myself. My family were in the area. My friends live and work near there. My godparents are in the vicinity. What is happening? Are there more planes? Are my family and friends in DC ok?

I called my parents, but the phone line was busy. I tried again and again. No connections. I called everyone on my crummy paper phone list, and finally reached Cathy T (my niece-in-law (?), and she said that everyone is ok. The rest of the day was a blur. I managed to e-mail my HS Spanish teacher Mr. W to check on everyone. I dunno why I contacted Mr. W. He e-responded back that the school was ok, but everyone is pretty much shaken from the news. I finally calmed down when I got to talk to ba and mẹ, and they said that everyone in the family was ok.
I tried to talk to my co-worker, BB if his family and friends are ok, but I my voice was shaken and I could not continue. I think he was a little freaked out at my reaction, but BB was quite comforting for not pushing me to say anything.

Nearly 3000 innocent people died, just four shy of the number. Many of them heroes died trying to save lives. I think we grew up a lot since September 11, 2001. Many bloggers today are remembering September 11. It’s not easy to forget. It's easy to over analyze and twist the facts. It’s easy to point fingers and blame the ones that seem vulnerable. I'm not hurt or angry anymore. I'm just determined that it should never happen again. We need a department of peace, ya’ll.