The inevitable 9/11 post

I don't really remember much from my day on September 11, 2001. I was in the science hall of my high school when my friend Brian told me a plane crashed into one of the twin towers. We didn't know any other details but someone came to the conclusion that it was just a small propeller plane and not a big deal. Maybe a period or two later, I was in my psychology class and an announcement came on the loudspeaker. By then, everyone had been talking about the crash but no one knew anything except that they shut off all the tv's in the school. They were releasing us from school due to the crash. I was very confused. I don't remember much after this. Some people drove over to Long Beach to watch the towers collapse from the skyline. I remember sitting in front of Sorentos Pizza cross from school. I remember being one of the only people to get through to someone on the phone. It was my mom's cell. All I heard were sirens and people screaming and she just said something along the lines of "I'm alive and I have to find Rachael!" then I heard yelling and we got disconnected. Rachael is my cousin who was fairly new to the city and NYU. Mom was supposed to be in the tower for a meeting. I didn't know at the time but that meeting got cancelled prior to the attack.

I do not remember how I got home that day. I did make it home somehow though and I remember sitting in the den, eyes glued to the tv, mouth wide open, as I watched footage repeat itself. 7 hours later, my mom walked in. Covered in dirt, she collapsed. She had walked the majority of the way home from the Brooklyn Bridge. We lived in Baldwin, Long Island which is south Nassau County. About 20 minutes to the city by car without traffic.

Don't remember the rest of that night either. My mom didn't speak though. She just cried. Rachael was fine but not with us. All my friends throughout the city were fine too. I know 1 person in my high school's father died. There may have been more.

It's crazy to think about the history you witness. Reading and learning about wars, and events like Pearl Harbor. But actually living through something like this is crazy.