Five Year Anniversary
It was Tuesday morning at six when my alarm rang at the usual time, a combination of that annoying monotonous tone with a radio DJ in the background, reading the news as usual. It was the last week of my internship at the Geological Survey, something I definitely looked forward to, so I would no longer have to wake up at the crack of dawn. Besides, my first day at Stanford was not too far away, and that excited me, a lot. For some reason that morning, however, something did not seem right. There was urgency in the news anchor's voice, and I can sense the trepidation as it channeled through the airwaves. ""This just in -- an airplane flew into The World Trade Center in New York,"" she kept repeating.
I immediately got up and turned on the television. As expected, every channel I turned to showed news coverage of the event and I was just amazed by the footage. I remembered thinking there was just so much smoke and that it was worse than I thought. Before that even registered, though, a second plane flew into the other tower. And I saw this with my own eyes -- live, as it was happening.
What happened after was a blur. I went into work as usual, but was turned home shortly after before I even stepped into the lobby, since it was a government building and they were invoking a lockdown on all the premises. I spent the rest of that day glued to the TV.
See. There are only so many "where were you when" events in one lifetime, times when you can remember and can see so vividly, even after years have passed. JFK's assassination and Pearl Harbor are two that come to mind when I think about my parents' and grandparents' generations. I wonder what my children's will be..
I immediately got up and turned on the television. As expected, every channel I turned to showed news coverage of the event and I was just amazed by the footage. I remembered thinking there was just so much smoke and that it was worse than I thought. Before that even registered, though, a second plane flew into the other tower. And I saw this with my own eyes -- live, as it was happening.
What happened after was a blur. I went into work as usual, but was turned home shortly after before I even stepped into the lobby, since it was a government building and they were invoking a lockdown on all the premises. I spent the rest of that day glued to the TV.
See. There are only so many "where were you when" events in one lifetime, times when you can remember and can see so vividly, even after years have passed. JFK's assassination and Pearl Harbor are two that come to mind when I think about my parents' and grandparents' generations. I wonder what my children's will be..
Labels: life
