10 Years

View from Home

Goldsboro, NC

September 11, 2001

We took this picture from the front porch of my parents' home because we thought the sky looked like the colors of the flag. I still remember, of course, many things about that day. Learning about the attack in second period computer class. Feeling cold immediately and my best friend coming up behind me and giving me a hug because we both just needed it. Going home and watching Peter Jennings for hours and hours. Standing on the porch and seeing this view.

One year later I was a freshman at UNC and went to a candlelight vigil in the Pit. Five years later I was in London and forced myself to leave my flat and take the bus and the tube so "they" wouldn't win. Now ten years later I'm in a city that was on the front line then and still is now. I stayed closed to this home today because I had stuff to get done and football games to watch. (Though I did run a few errands to make sure "they" didn't win.")

It's always been hard for me to think about that day and not think about all the stuff that followed. The invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. The trampling of freedoms under the guise of patriotism. The religious and ethnic stereotyping. But reading remembrances this week and watching the memorial services today, seeing the names of victims and watching their loved ones grieve, all that other stuff faded away and it was just them. Just them and their stories and sacrifices. Just as it should be.