Ten Years Later...

I first saw the Twin Towers from an airplane. My sister and I were returning from a trip to Italy. As we flew over New York City, several British men behind us spotted the towers, and excitedly pointed it out, "Look, there they are! There are the Twin Towers!" From my aisle seat, I leaned over to get a look, truthfully, I didn't look that closely. I figured there would be another trip to that city some day, or another flight, and I would see them again. Little did I know how wrong that assumption would be.

The date was September 9, 2001.

I returned home, and went back to my life. I had two jobs I was working, a wedding to plan. I was asleep when the events of 9/11 began to unfold, later awoken by a phone call from Luke, who asked if I was watching TV. My reply was "no, which channel?" He simply said "it doesn't matter, just turn it on."

I couldn't help but think, "I just saw them," as if somehow that meant it couldn't be real. But it was real, it was really happening.

Ten years later, rewatching that footage, it's still surreal. Even though I know what will happen, I catch my breath when the second plane hits, or first tower starts to collapse. When I hear stories about the passengers on Flight 93, I can't help but hope maybe this time they will be met with a different outcome. But, I can't change what is done, I can't rewrite history.

But, I can remember.