I had a nightmare about 9/11...

I dreamed I was there, watching the second plane hit the tower over and over. I could feel the percussion in my chest. I could feel the heat from the explosion. I could hear everyone on the ground screaming, and I could feel everyone's energy; the fear of not knowing what would happen next, and the certainty that despite hoping and praying that the first plane was just an accident, this country was under attack. 

Where were you when you heard the news?

Everyone old enough to appreciate what happened that day knows exactly where they were when they heard the news. It went down in history as one of the most catastrophic days in our nation's history since the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I was a Junior in Hgh School, in art class, and our teacher stood in the doorway, her face white, and told us all that the Twin Towers had just been bombed.

We were dismissed early that day, but not before hearing that the Pentagon had been bombed as well. Extracurricular activities were cancelled. It were as though the school itself was about to fall under attack. Nobody knew exactly what would happen next. Even the highest faculty appeared confused, rushed. As my bus pulled down the long turn out, I thought I saw a fighter jet in the skies overhead. To this day, I can't be sure whether or not that was accurate. By that time, all air traffic in the United States had been grounded; the first time that had ever happened.

Last night I felt the need to pull up video footage from that day. Somehow it was more horrific than I remember it being before, maybe even more horrific than it was in the dream. I wonder if upon hearing the news that day, and watching it, that an invisble veil had lowered itself over my heart to shield me from the reality of what was happening.

That veil is gone now.

It has been over 15 years since the 9/11 attacks, and only in the last couple of years has the event begun to fade further back into my memory than yesterday. For some, 9/11 remains etched into their daily filter, like an obscure lens through which to experience reality. 

Two people from my home town were killed in the attacks.

It is only in the sense that I watched my country come together that day that I look upon the event with a sense of pride. I remember going to work later that day. Flags flew, one from the back of a truck which drove the perimeter of the parking lot honking. The national anthem was played. I remember pausing to place my hand over my heart as I listened to the instrumentals, waiting for it to conlcude before returning to the job I was being paid to do.

I can only hope that I can enjoy the same sense of pride under new leadership, in the absence of hatred and violence. That begins with an ardent belief in the reality that all men are created equal, and in the inherent value in democracy.

Let our new president lead our country with these values in mind.    

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