The Day the World Stopped

My heart stopped beating. The world around me moved in slow motion as my mind tried to catch up with what I just heard. A co-worker had just rushed into my office to tell us that one of the Twin Towers in New York was hit by a plane.

‘It couldn’t be,’ I doubted. It had to be a practical joke or a way for the media to get more coverage. They had to be overreacting. The office began to chatter. Others were asking if we heard any other news. With our office based in Philadelphia, many of us had friends and family in NYC.

Friends. My heart still hadn’t begun beating. My dear friend was working in downtown Manhattan. Her boyfriend was working in one of the buildings that was part of the Tower complex.* I tried calling her but the phone lines were all busy and I couldn’t get through to her. Panic started to set in.

I managed to walk down to our cafeteria where a TV was set up to show news coverage as the event was unfolding. Equally mesmerized and disgusted by the image of the burning first tower, my jaw dropped as I watched the second plane hit the other tower. The only other tragedy I’d seen on live TV was the Challenger space shuttle’s explosion as a child. Like that accident, the image of the plane careening into one of the New York skyline’s most recognizable buildings was now permanently etched into my mind.

Everyone has a story from 9/11—where we were, what we were doing, who was with us at the time. One way or another, all Americans and many around the world were personally touched by the tragedy.

In the course of American history, on 9/11 our country lost a little more of its trusting innocence and idea that we were invincible. Yet, the best thing that came of this tragedy was that for a short while, we, as Americans, set aside our differences. We were one nation, one family, united to protect our ideals and our freedoms. For a brief moment, our nation remembered what it meant to be a citizen of the United States. Democrat, Republican, Independent—these were just political labels that didn’t matter anymore.

Our country was founded on protecting basic human rights and freedoms. September 11 served as a painful reminder that we often live in a bubble in the Western hemisphere and that others most definitely do not share our philosophies or rights in their part of the world.

And from unexpected tragedy, hope was born. I was pregnant during the summer of 2001. I loved my unborn child with my entire heart already and knew that I would go to the ends of the earth to keep my baby safe and happy. September 11, 2001 made me realize just how precious life is and that every second we have with our loved ones should be cherished. Life is too short.

Today we celebrate those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the midst of one of the most horrific, hate-filled attacks on our country. Inspired by their bravery, we honor them and their families and hopefully remember that ten years later we are still “one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”**

* With all transportation shutdown on 9/11, my friend walked home from Manhattan to Queens that day. Her boyfriend made it home later that night. The sights, sounds, and smells are forever part of their memories from that day. They are now happily married.

** US Pledge of Allegiance – “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”