The Day Everything Changed

A Tribute to Life did not exist on the fateful morning of September 11, 2001.  But, most of my memories are so clear, I can easily recall them and go back in time to recapture them here.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, I was a sophomore nursing student at Wheeling Jesuit University.  I was a few weeks into the fall semester, and it was a day I had calculus class during the morning time slot.  As I got ready that morning, I heard the first reports about planes crashing.  It wasn't long at all that the reports went from speculation that it was an aviation disaster/accident to speculation that terrorism was at work.

This day was like the day of the walking dead.  In every nook and cranny where normally life was buzzing about, instead, there were faces etched with concern and shallow gasps of air.  This vibe was in great contrast to the amazingly clear and beautiful day.  My mind had trouble shifting between the pristine and flawless blue sky and the images of death and destruction.  I have one visual memory that I cannot shake, and it came as a result of being stopped at a red light on my way back home from campus.  My position at the light was such that I looked up at the looming and protective hills, still very much green from summer's gifts, and the only other thing beyond was the amazing sky.  I remember sitting there in this moment and for the first time ever feeling overwhelmed with doubt and panic about the state of the world.  While irrational outside of the moment, that moment allowed me to deeply consider the question of, "Will more planes fall out of the air today?"  Every former comfort of being an American citizen had collapsed just as the honorable structures of the twin towers and portions of the Pentagon had.  Hours before, this question of planes falling out of the sky would have been absurd.  What a difference a few hours had made in history.  And then as the world gradually returned to normal--or perhaps the new normal--I hesitated because the moment felt too huge for the return, but then the option to stay behind was revoked.

The human resolve to survive has taken this unsettling anxiety and made it into an acceptable part of daily life.  While there are far worse circumstances withstood in all parts of the world on a daily basis, this moment--this day--taught me that there are no guarantees, except for one.  The world will continue on, and the world's people will almost mystically survive.  This amazing ability to do so will only be one of the many testaments of the strength and abilities attributed to the human race over time.  

As many have proclaimed, I will never forget this day.  I will not forget the evil that prevailed on those flights and the precious and autonomous lives lost or the lasting effects of that evil in the wars and ways of the world.  While the tragic day came and went, that towering hillside still haunts me each time I pass it.  It gently reminds me that nothing can be taken for granted and also of the fragility of even the most powerful structures--be them literal or abstract.  It reminds me that life can only be measured in moments and seconds and anything beyond that is simply not guaranteed.