Now I Get It

Growing up, I never understood the conversations I heard about John F. Kennedy. Not the conspiracy part (mostly b/c I was too young to get it), but the part where everyone just started talking about what they were doing, who they were with and how much it changed everything when he was killed. What was so weird to me was how this part of the conversation always came up with out anyone asking the others to share these feelings and experiences. 7 years ago today, I was 20, and I finally got my answer as to why people talked about the day JFK died like they always had. It was 9:15 a.m. on September 11, 2001 and my girlfriend Jessie, whose whole extnded family lives in NY, came barging into my bedroom screaming that one of the World Trade Center Towers had been hit with a plane. My eyes still trying to wake up and my feet asleep, I ran into her bedroom with her to watch everything unfold. All I remember thinking was that it looked like a movie with REALLY good effects and that this couldn't possibly be happening. The full impact of all of this didn't hit for a while as I was sitting with Jess as she tried to locate all her family members. We were most concerned with her cousin who took the subway and got off at the tower stop. As you all remember, the cell phone services were down, so it was the late afternoon before we found out that everyone including her cousin was ok. I also found out later that afternoon that my dad had been on the 42nd floor of Tower 1 just the day before. I thank God that I didn't know this earlier in the day. The rest of the day, Jessie and I sat in front of the TV, holding hands, crying and in utter disbelief that this was happening. Neither of us went to our classes that day, mostly b/c they were cancelled, but also because for the first time in our lives, we felt completely vulnerable. It was that vulnerability that also made us sleep in the same bed that night because neither of us could go sleep at our parents' house. I could go on and on about the details of that day, down to what I ate and how many times I went to the bathroom. The fact that I can still remember EVERYTHING about that day and can relive the moments with out anyone asking makes me finally get the JFK stories that I have always heard. Some events in life are so traumatic and earth shattering, that you have to remember everything to get through it. I will never forget that day, how I felt or the number of lives that were taken too quickly. When our kids are older, they will wonder the same things I did when they hear our stories of 9/11. I pray that nothing will ever happen to make them understand why everyone can remember that day so vivdly, but I know it is bound to happen. So, ono this day, along with everyone else that was alive 7 yrs. ago, I remember everyone that was taken too soon and gave their lives trying to save others. No one should ever forget!