This is my next op-ed in a line of many, hopefully. I wanted to commemorate the 10th anniversary of September 10, 2001 through my perspective of then and now. I know I can never fully capture my emotional state but here is my attempt that I made in mid-August. I hope you enjoy.
"How has your life changed since that terrible morning on 9/11 ten years ago?" the Twitter feed from ABC World News asked. "Send us your stories."
I thought about it for a moment...it had been ten years since that ghastly event and in retrospect, several things pop in my mind from that time since now.
I was a freshman at Sweetwater High on that Tuesday in 2001, barely just turning 15 and on the cusp of pseudo-adulthood. I sat in my first period classroom as the bell rang and getting up from my chair, the teacher muttered under her breath, "Someone just ran a plane into a building," repeating what she had just heard from the radio.
I played it off as a nonsensical error, some small plane crashing into an old abandoned building. "No big deal," I thought and I walked across campus to my next class, giving it no more thought. The drama, however met up with me as I walked inside. The classroom television was on ABC and during that period--and in many other classes throughout the day--we watched the horror unfold before our eyes: the second plane hit, the Twin Towers falling, the government's actions and everything after.
It was surreal, intense, mind-blowing...that people with so much hate for a country would sacrifice their lives for a cause while murdering those around them to prove a point. It was emotional, scarring and unnerving coming home from school that day and watching the story continually play out.
It was scary to think that it could happen again, and it could indeed happen that very same night.
That was my thought that evening and the only way to relinquish that fear was to cry and wonder aloud if I should fall to the same fate as those in the planes and Twin Towers--I was young and naive. Later on within the month, I remember going to my church in town and talking to the preacher about it, concerned about the eternal fates of those who perished.
It impacted me--more than I'll probably ever understand. I remember that year on some county music awards show when Alan Jackson debuted his song, "Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning", absorbing every word he sang and how he captured every single emotion into a four minute song.
But as time passed and I stand here now, I have to admit that my life probably hasn't been as affected as my emotional state has (though I hope I haven't become jaded from it all). I've never been on a plane before, so I've never dealt with the increased security measures that gradually affect frequent fliers. I don't have immediate family in the military, so I don't know the uncertainty that comes when a family member goes to war or the fear of every late night phone call.
I am truly grateful for the military, having the utmost respect for them for their sacrifices. And while there have been some glitches seen in the airport security and others argue about their rights being violated, we have to admit we've seen results from the choices that have been made post-9/11.
An Iraqi dictator was captured and executed, the Afghan mastermind was found and killed, and I believe we've been able to foil some plots that could have rocked us as a nation to our core. Indeed, "freedom isn't free"--a mantra that's slightly overused at every patriotic holiday but its message echoes volumes.
So here we are, ten years later, an era which has been marred by terrorism. But I can't help for the pride to swell for our country and our military as we continue to commemorate the lives that were lost that September day one decade ago.
God bless our country, our military…and may we never forget Tuesday, September 11, 2001.
Belinda Serrano is a staff writer at the Sweetwater Reporter. Comments on this column can be made at editor@sweetwaterreporter.com or bserrano25@yahoo.com.
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