Kelsi's Not So Secret Diaries: Death

Cliche question of the day . . . "Where were you when the towers hit?" Cliche statement of the day "I remember exactly where I was on September 11. I was . . . " But you can't help but ask and tell your story on this ten year anniversary. So here's my story. (My memory is very fragmented, so I'll just share the parts I remember.)

I was ten years old. It was a Tuesday. I remember going to school and I walked into my fifth grade classroom and the TV was on and everyone was watching it, which was weird because my teacher Ms. Goble never had the TV on. I just remember seeing the plumes of smoke and the fire. I don't think we watched it for very long though. I remember watching the replays over and over again after school and everyone seemed so shocked. I didn't really understand it. I remember watching the towers go down and hearing everyone screaming as the towers fell. I remember watching people running and covered with dust and coughing and freaking out. I remember being surprised when my mom told me that nobody expected the towers to actually fall. I remember thinking that lots of people must have gotten hurt, but it never occurred to me that people had died. I don't think I really had any sort of idea what death really was at the time. No one I had known had ever died before. I truly thought that it was just a matter of finding all the people in the rubble and then getting them to the hospital and the doctors would make them all better. I really didn't think anyone would die, I just thought they'd be spending a long time in the hospital. It made sense to me why having family and friends hurt and in the hospital would make people really sad, because I knew from experience that being sick and in the hospital was not fun. I didn't really realize just how mind blowing and scary and crazy the attacks really were. It wasn't until my parents explained to me that they had all died that it even occurred to me that they would have died. I still don't think I fully understood it. But I do remember going to Choral Collections - my song/dance class - and one of the girls in my class said it was her birthday. I remember thinking "Today has to be the saddest day to have a birthday. Every one from now on is going to think of this all of this sadness and pain every year on her birthday."

I remember how sad everyone was after and how everyone was holding up pictures and looking for their family and friends. I thought that they'd all eventually find the people they were looking for. I remember everyone flocking to Ground Zero. I remember everyone talking about how life would never be the same. I remember everyone being really scared. I remember feeling really bad for President Bush because I thought that it would be really hard to be the president during something like that. I remember how Patriotic everyone was after. Flags flying everywhere. I remember everyone talking about how everyone was extra nice to each other. I always thought (almost) everyone was nice so I didn't really notice a huge difference. I remember everyone being so together. I remember thinking how great it was that we were so united as a country and that it would never change. I remember thinking that we would find Osama Bin Laden. I remember General Conference being disrupted by President Bush telling us we were going to war with Iraq. I remember it was on my mom's birthday. I remember feeling glad that we were going to get the bad guys. I remember President Hinckley announcing it in General Conference.

Ten years later, I understand the attacks and the affect they had on the victims and their families and on the nation better then I did when they actually happened. A few years ago I met a woman who was actually in Washington D.C. on September 11. Last year I watched a documentary on September 11 and it went through everything. It's heartbreaking to hear about those last phone calls. Those last moments. When I see the footage now, I actually understand what was happening. I think I probably mourned the loss more last year than I did when it actually happened, because I get it now. And I think that's why my generation was so happy when we got Osama bin Laden. I don't think we should have been celebrating death but he has been the real life "evil villain" since we were little. September 11 had a big impact on us then, but I think we understand it better now. Osama bin Laden has been the evil villain about as long as Lord Voldemort. In a way, they are one and the same.

I went to New York and the only pictures I haven't posted on this blog yet, are the pictures of the World Trade Center. Actually seeing the area and the reconstruction was a big deal for me. We also visited the Memorial and the Museum (gift shop). Here are the pictures I took.