God Bless America

I was in college at work at the Aggieland Visitor Center; there were probably three or four of us working.  Yvette, another VC employee, called from her dorm room to tell us that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center.  At that point we guessed it was an accident, so we generally went about our business while our boss tried to find some information online.  Yvette soon called back to tell us about the second plane.  Every news website was a blank screen, so we took turns walking across the street to the Koldus building to watch the news on a tv near the student government offices.

I was sitting on a couch and there was a woman near me eating those vending machine peanut butter crackers.  They news showed one tower on fire and the other covered in smoke and we watched that for a few minutes.  All of a sudden the news received new footage and we all –the news and the strangers I was sitting with- realized that the smoke we thought was covering the tower was actually covering nothing, and we saw footage of the first tower collapsing for the first time.  The rest of the day was spent watching footage on tvs set up all over campus, seeing the planes hit and the towers collapse over and over on a giant screen in the Flag Room.  I ate corkscrew pasta for lunch with my friend Dave at work.  That night we went to a prayer service. 

I can’t forget hearing about my grandpa turning on the tv that morning, probably after waking up from his post-work-out nap, and wondering what movie was on before he realized it was the news.  Right now so many tv stations are showing 9/11 specials, but I’m not planning on watching.  I still have those images in my head.

So today I’m grateful that I could spend my weekend eating soft tacos in the backyard with my family, watching a rerun of Saturday Night Live (When is the last time I watched that show - 2004? Is this a subconscious shout-out to New York?), getting up early to go to church, and flying the American flag outside my house.  I’m praying for everyone who was desperate for prayers ten years ago and everyone who still needs those prayers today.

Peace.