Every year on September 11th, we spend the day remembering the lives lost in the attack on the World Trade Center. At school, you watch videos and talk about the event all day. Yesterday I thought about how the people in the Twin Towers, as well as the four planes, felt and reacted to the event in Sociology, read and analyzed poetry, articles, and other pieces of literature based on 9/11 in English, and study the series of events that led up to the tragedy, the events that took place during the tragedy, and the events that followed the tragedy in History.

I spent a majority of my day yesterday remembering a tragedy that I’m not sure I even remember. Sure, I was alive on September 11th, 2001, but I was only 4. I remember my mom and dad telling me what was happening, but the realness of the tragedy never really registered with me until yesterday. Don’t get me wrong, I know it was real and it happened, but I never understood the degree of loss this country went through until now.

Seeing videos and news clips of the 1st tower on fire, the 2nd plane flying into the 2nd tower, and then both of the towers collapsing opened my eyes. I realized at that moment that as a country we became more secure, as a people we became stronger, and as a nation we became united.

The loss was indescribable. The tragedy unexplainable. Yet the gain was amazing. As I pay my respects to the innocent lives lost, I remember a tragedy I don’t really remember, and with the passing of each year I learn more and more about 9/11.