Writer's Block: Infamous
Dec. 7th, 2008 10:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ellcrys70[Error: unknown template qotd] I'd have to say, without even having to think about it, Sept. 11th.
I remember that I woke up to get ready for school, I was in my last year of college, and I'd turned on the news. Only one plane had hit by that point and I called my aunt to ask if she'd spoken to my cousin that morning, as he was working in Manhattan at the time. She said no, and asked why, and I said, "A plane hit one of the Twin Towers...." then as we were talking, the second plane hit.
I said, "I don't believe this, another one just hit the second one...what the hell??"
She got off the phone and went to call my cousin. My aunt, who's lived in New York for as long as I can remember, and whose school was turned into an emergency medical station, also lived in Manhattan and as it became clear that this wasn't a random incident, I got worried. I later found out my uncle was flying into New York that morning for a meeting from Toronto, as well. Pretty personal suddenly for a Canadian prairie girl.
My family, thank God, was all safe, but as we watched from the college, because class was a write-off that morning, so we just pulled a t.v. in and huddled around it, it became very clear that the world around us had just changed.
I remember that day not seeming real, but in another way being so real it was terrifying. And as we discussed possible reasons for the attack, which we know knew it was, and watched the unfolding of the events outside of New York, I remember thinking how fragile our security in our world really is. How it can all be taken away in an instant. If someone had told me beforehand that this kind of tragedy could happen, I wouldn't have believed them.
Now, I find I'm not surprised by anything anymore. Not really.
Sept. 11th shook us out of our complacency. It woke us up and showed us that we are vulnerable. Not just the U.S. not just Canada, but the world in general.
And while it showed us how heinous people with vengeance, hate and righteousness in their hearts could be, it also showed us how, in the face of our worst fears, and our world crumbling around us, we can rise above and become heroes.
The people who gave their lives for others that day and in the time that followed showed why we're still worth fighting for as a race. That when push comes to shove, we can be noble, we can be just, and we can be redeemed.
I remember that I woke up to get ready for school, I was in my last year of college, and I'd turned on the news. Only one plane had hit by that point and I called my aunt to ask if she'd spoken to my cousin that morning, as he was working in Manhattan at the time. She said no, and asked why, and I said, "A plane hit one of the Twin Towers...." then as we were talking, the second plane hit.
I said, "I don't believe this, another one just hit the second one...what the hell??"
She got off the phone and went to call my cousin. My aunt, who's lived in New York for as long as I can remember, and whose school was turned into an emergency medical station, also lived in Manhattan and as it became clear that this wasn't a random incident, I got worried. I later found out my uncle was flying into New York that morning for a meeting from Toronto, as well. Pretty personal suddenly for a Canadian prairie girl.
My family, thank God, was all safe, but as we watched from the college, because class was a write-off that morning, so we just pulled a t.v. in and huddled around it, it became very clear that the world around us had just changed.
I remember that day not seeming real, but in another way being so real it was terrifying. And as we discussed possible reasons for the attack, which we know knew it was, and watched the unfolding of the events outside of New York, I remember thinking how fragile our security in our world really is. How it can all be taken away in an instant. If someone had told me beforehand that this kind of tragedy could happen, I wouldn't have believed them.
Now, I find I'm not surprised by anything anymore. Not really.
Sept. 11th shook us out of our complacency. It woke us up and showed us that we are vulnerable. Not just the U.S. not just Canada, but the world in general.
And while it showed us how heinous people with vengeance, hate and righteousness in their hearts could be, it also showed us how, in the face of our worst fears, and our world crumbling around us, we can rise above and become heroes.
The people who gave their lives for others that day and in the time that followed showed why we're still worth fighting for as a race. That when push comes to shove, we can be noble, we can be just, and we can be redeemed.
