It was my freshman year of college. I had been at Purdue just over a month and was still getting into the swing of my schedule. I had an early class that morning and when I got back to the room my roommate's boyfriend was there...no roomie in sight. Already, this was not an uncommon scene. Luckily, he happened to be in my major so we had a lot of classes together and by then I had grown to know him fairly well. He was the one who told me what had happened. We watched the rest unfold on TV until my roommate came back. Strangely, she had heard from my mom who had called the room when I was gone to tell me. We basically stayed there for what seemed like hours until classes interrupted our vigil.
I had no idea then the impact that day would have on our country. I can't even imagine what it must've been like to be there or even know people who were in the city on that day. I have watched a lot of specials done where the whole thing is shot by New Yorkers with their personal video cameras, capturing the smoking World Trade Center and the actual falling of the towers...but that doesn't compare at all to being in the midst of all of that ciaos. My heart just breaks thinking about the people that we lost that day.
Matt and I had the privileged of going to New York about a year and a half ago. Our hotel overlooked Ground Zero. Being my first trip, it was hard to imagine what it looked like before that day. Here's what we were able to capture from our window:
Such an empty space. But also, a space for rebuilding.
Today I want to honor those who lost their lives that day and the families they left behind. You will never, ever be forgotten.
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