10 years later.

Today is a weird day. It's hard to believe that the World Trade Center attacks happened on this day 10 years ago. I remember the day vividly. I was in seventh-grade art class at my public middle school when the teacher next door rushed in and turned on the news. She was saying what a horrible accident it was when we watched the second plane fly into the other tower, then realizing this was no accident. My church friend Caroline was terrified for her dad because he was a pilot and had flights in NYC that week. Over the intercom, the school office called her to come to the front, and we were all scared that bad news awaited her. Thankfully her dad had just called to tell her he was okay. We all began to realize the weight of what was happening.

It has been quite strange growing up in the ten years of aftermath. I daresay my adolescence and young adulthood would have looked quite different had the nation not experienced these attacks, or perhaps taken a different strategy in assuring the safety and freedom of its people and the people of the world.

Today I reflect, and wonder how these events will shape the rest of the nation's history and my own life.

Photo from NPR. A father stands over his son's name on the WTC memorial.