9/11 – Your Story Blog Hop

September 11, 2010 by Diana 1 Comment

Nine years ago today, our great country was shattered

For a moment, every life stopped, this was what mattered.

Lives were lost, things were destroyed, and families were torn apart

It was like suddenly America had a broken heart.

For everyone who lost someone, and your life was forever changed,

We haven’t forgotten you, though sometimes you may feel estranged.

To our troops that are fighting for us, so far away

We’re thankful for you, every single day.

Today I’m going to look around and be amazed that I can live here,

I’ll think about the lives lost, the lives fighting, and I’ll shed a tear.

Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to live in a place like this,

Until I think about if it was all taken away, how much I would miss.

That day, we all came together, American stood as one,

Keep that in your hearts; look back on everything we have done.

Stop, take a moment, and look up to heaven

And remember those who died, those who fight, on nine eleven.

- Alyson S. (my sister)

I was 17, Sam and I got engaged the day before he left for Marine boot camp in California.

It was June 17th, 2001. I was upset about him leaving, but knew he would be back soon. I planned all summer to go see him graduate. We only spoke on the phone once, but wrote hundreds of letters. I quit my job when my boss wouldn’t let me have the time off. My parents were leaving to go back east on the same day as I was flying to San Diego to see him, we were heading to the airport together. Our flight date?

September 11th.

As we boarded the bus for the airport parking lot that morning, I heard something about a bombing in NY city on the radio. My dad, mom and I tried to figure out what was going on, but couldn’t make out what was happening.

Chaos ensued in the airport. Flights were being delayed and canceled, everyone was panicking. A flight attendant finally stood up on a chair, and told everyone that the World Trade Center had been hit with a hijacked plane and all flights in the US were grounded.

I remember it being eerily quiet as everyone just stood there in disbelief.

We waited around for a while until the airlines announced that no one was leaving for at least the next 24 hours. Still hoping that the next day would bring good news, and wondering what had happened in NY, we headed to a hotel to spend the night.

I sat watching the news in horror as the towers collapsed, and my dad said, “This right here – it changes everything. America will never be the same again.”

He was right. With flights not leaving the next day, and the airlines not giving any time soon for that, we headed home. Being 18, I was devastated more for me than anything else. I didn’t comprehend what had really just taken place. It was beyond anything I had ever seen.

In the next 3 years, my husband headed to war in Iraq and Kuwait, among other places. What I thought was just a routine military 4 years turned into combat training, being apart for up to 16 months at a time, and one of the worst days of my life.

It took several years, and a news special one night, to understand the impact of that day. 9/11 changed the world. Mine, and everyone else’s.

Want to share your 9/11 story? Link up here so we can all read it. It’s open till tomorrow night.

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