I remember getting ready for school when the first plane hit the World Trade Center. My whole family was watching the news as I went about my daily routine. My step-mom and my dad sitting in my step-mom’s mother’s room, on the sofa, just still and quiet. My dad tried to tell me that we were watching history, but it didn’t register with me. I was young. I remember so vividly watching the second plane hit. Damn. I never thought I would see a plane crash. I was in the 9th grade.

I went to school and everyone was talking about it in every one of my classes. The teachers were asking us how we felt, if we were okay, what we were doing when it happened. They told us this was history happening. There they went again, those adults with the history speech.

I’m not a very emotional person, but I grieve for those who grieve. The feeling of loss is so awful and something I identify with so well, my heart broke in two when I finally understood what had happened. I will always think of the families that lost someone ten years ago today.

I was 14 years old and I was getting ready for school when the first plane hit. Where were you and what were you doing September 11, 2001?