Can't believe it's been this many years since 9/11 happened. It still feels like it was JUST last year. I remember exactly everything about that day. I remember my then boyfriend Al, calling me and telling me to turn on the tv. Then watching it with him, terrified and mind completely blown. I remember begging him to come over and get far far away from LAX where he worked. I remember calling my mom at her job and telling her what was going on. I remember just becoming a zombie glued to the tv for hours upon hours and then days upon days. It was such a long nightmare. I remember hearing lots of military jets flying over us and living in the southbay, that was just not normal at all. I remember talking to my flyboys before they went wheels up and praying with a few of them. I remember waiting for days to hear back from them. I remember everything was just so intense. I remember strangers hugging each other and putting our fists in the air in solidarity. I remember not sleeping or eating all that much. I remember just being frozen in fear, on edge, wondering was LA next. I also remember sobbing when i heard about friends of friends lost and the numbers of people gone climbing higher and higher. I remember holding Al so tight when i finally saw him that day. I remember mom bringing home ice cream and us just trying to stay strong with one another. It just felt like the world had just STOPPED. Not time, not life but the world. Like we weren't spinning anymore, we weren't going forward at all...we were just frozen in this horrific time. And i remember Bush Jr. just not being reassuring at all. I want to say that is when I really started to see what was really going on in our government, in our United States of America. People kept saying we would forever be changed by that and i knew it but it took some time to really FEEL IT. We were changed in so many bad ways. Many of the kids and teens today (and in the future) have no idea what life was like before 9/11. And for me to sit here and think about it, blows my mind, because i know the difference. I lived it. I was 19 years old. I was completely aware of life at that age. And then, it all changed and i had to become completely aware of a new life, a new world.
Honestly, that is when i began to fear the real evils of this world. Because when evil comes crashing through your door...you never forget it. And you are forever changed.
Just as that saying goes...I don't fear any man; it's the devil inside him that i'm afraid of.
Love and blessings to the families that lost loved ones on 9/11. And to all of us that were old enough to be changed by it. Let us not forget how we came together for support and love. Thank you to all the first responders who ran towards the falling towers. You are angels of awesomeness. Thank you to all the fire crews, police officers, troops, uniforms of all kinds for all you did and continue to do since that day. As well as all the regular folks who helped their fellow man during such a crisis. No words can sum up the bitter sweetness that came during and after the events. But know, my heart is full of love and thanks.
