i remember

I was in my dorm room, getting ready for my 2nd class of the day. I had an early morning class and was let out extra early and had decided to take a shower and actually fix my hair for the day. I was standing in front of the little TV in my shared room, brushing the wet tangles out when a news flash broadcast that one of the towers had been hit. There was little information and much confusion as to what had happened; at the time it was kind of assumed that a plane hit it accidentally. I stood there kind of numb, but not yet realizing the significance of the 'accident'. I grabbed my books and headed over to the gym for my class. Walking down the little corridor that paralleled the teachers offices, I saw my professor, standing with his jaw dropped. I walked into his office in time to see the 2nd plane hitting the 2nd tower. It wasn't an accident, it was terrorism.
He herded us into our class room and hooked up the TV for a few minutes. One of the guys in the class started crying--he has a brother who works in one of the towers. We turn off the TV to try and lecture, but no one is really paying attention. I later learned that my classmates brother had been running late to work; he was a block away when the 1st plane hit. But other students were not as lucky. There were 8 students who lost someone they knew and loved when the towers crashed.
Class is over, and the whole school was on their way to chapel. We sat among the benches, comforting people and praying for safety and understanding. I remember walking out of the building after chapel and looking up--there was nothing in the usually busy sky. And it was eerily quiet out; not even the birds chirping their usual happy tunes.
The Pentagon got hit--I remember wondering and praying for safety of an old boyfriends father who was working at the Pentagon. He was home safe; I learned later that he had taken the day off to tile a room in their house. 7 years later, this man would be my Father-in-Law.
I remember the confusion and fear that quickly sprang up among the students and the strength and wisdom that came forth from our professors. We felt violated. Not understanding the what was going on so many miles away; wondering if a town in the middle of no where Nebraska could be next; the calming and soothing voices of professors guiding us through a situation no one had ever experienced.
I remember. And I'll never forget what happened September 11, 2001.