Remembering 9/11

Do you remember where you were late morning on Tuesday, September 11, 2001? I revisit this day in my mind often because it still feels like a bad dream to me. I was a senior at Clemson University, majoring in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Mathematical Sciences, and I had worked extra hard for 3.5 years so I would have an amazingly easy final semester. I only had three classes left in my curriculum, and those classes met at 9am, 10am, and 11am on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday every week; therefore, I had every Tuesday and Thursday “off.” I lived in McCabe Hall and had slept in, knowing I needed to do laundry before studying for a couple of tests for the remainder of the day. Holmes Hall, which was next door to McCabe, housed the nearest laundry facilities, so I had walked over to wash a load of clothes. We grew up hanging our clothes in the doorway or on a drying rack, even though we had a functioning dryer, so I walked into my room with my damp, clean clothing prepared to set them up for air drying. The television was already on CBS because I was looking forward to viewing the newest episode of The Young and The Restless at 12:30 pm; however, when I looked at the screen, I saw a breaking news banner, smoke billowing from both of the twin towers, and a patch of scorched Earth on the outside edge of the Pentagon. I dropped to the floor, with my clothes, and just sat there for hours, watching every second of this story unfold. My mind was racing and I could not fully comprehend what I was seeing, with my own eyes, since this was something I could have never imagined and it was happening during my lifetime. This historic moment was one that completely devastated our nation and it still feels too much like a recent event, despite occurring over two decades ago.

Again I ask, do you remember where you were when it happened? Whether you can or cannot, on this anniversary of 9/11, never forget that even when you are having a less than optimal day, someone, somewhere, is most likely worse off than you are.