As I walked home from school tonight I saw the lights shining up from Ground Zero into the sky to mark where the World Trade Center Towers once stood seven years and one day ago. Though of course I've seen the memorial lights on television and in pictures over the years since the tragedy on September 11, this year's anniversary was the first time seeing them in person. It is a terribly eery sight.
Tonight because of the cloudy haze in the sky the lights seemed to peak at just where I would expect the buildings reached their full height. I don't have an actual memory of seeing them in person before they were hit, though I'm sure on one of my visits to the city as a kid I must have seen them. My imagination brought back images of that morning as I walked towards the lights tonight. Scary.
I remember being in French class that morning, in 8th grade. They turned on the television in the classroom and my math teacher came in and told us something had happened in New York City. Oh no, I remember thinking, my beloved city. I had been here exactly one week before the planes hit the towers at an agent's call audition for Clara at Radio City. One week before. And I remember not understanding the magnitude of the attacks until my mom picked me up from Dunkin Donuts next to school that afternoon. The first thing she said was, "Are you very upset by what happened?" It didn't occur to me until then how terrible this was.
That morning my French teacher told us we'd always remember where we were when this happened. This was a horrible event that would go down in history. And I certainly haven't forgotten.
My thoughts are out to the September 11th victims and their families tonight.
No comments:
Post a Comment