"Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?"

10 years ago I was settling into the first few weeks of 9th grade. That morning I got ready for school as usual, said goodbye to my mom and ran out to my carpool. As I opened the car door Landon said "The World Trade Centers have been hit by planes!" Halfway in the car and halfway out, my confusion and fear were instant. I pulled the car door shut. Looking back now I was shutting the door on the innocent naive world I knew. The short drive to MPJ seemed long that day as we listened to the radio. News came of another hijacked plane and possible bomb threat on the White House....wait did they say the White House?! Now it was personal, my sister Jessica was an intern there. What was happening, was she OK, how was I going to find out? Surely my mom would let me know ASAP. Wrong. I made my way to my first class in a daze. The hallways were buzzing with chaos as trickles of conversations hit my ears....New York....planes...terrorists...bombs....DC....crashed....falling....Trying to break through my haze Brett said "Don't worry Mar, everything will be fine." I looked over at him and remember saying very clearly "You don't know that Brett, Jessica is in the White House." Brett's face fell, but he quickly said he was sure she was fine. I turned and walked into Geography alone as Brett and what seemed like all my other friends went across the hall to Foods.

I don't remember those first few classes very well, all the teachers were trying to calm down younger students and feeding us older kids with the latest news. We spent Seminary watching the burning towers and more speculation from newscasters. All day I waited for news about my sister but none ever came. Still worried I headed to my soccer game at WX. I couldn't even tell you who we played that day or even if we won. As we were warming up I spotted my mom across the field and yelled "Is Jessica OK?" She smiled and said "Yes she's fine." She couldn't call the school and tell me that?!

A few weeks later Alan Jackson's song "Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning" came on as my dad and I drove home from a soccer game. My dad said he liked the song and turned it up. One line says "In a crowded room did you feel alone?" That's exactly how I felt.

I got these plates at Target last month. How different the skyline is today.

My International Communication class focuses on memory and how people remember major events in our past. Shawn and I woke up today to watch the memorial. Unfortunately, Shawn didn't account for time zones and we missed most of the broadcast. It still got me thinking about ten years ago and what each of us went through. I asked Shawn how he found out and what he remembered about that day. My sister Morgan blogged about her experience here. Jessica and her family came over and we each shared our memories of September 11, 2001: Jessica being evacuated from the White House as the plane that hit the Pentagon flew overhead, Nick in Russia on a mission and Shawn's mom calling him down to the TV room to watch the news. Today I learned a little more about myself and a little more about my family. I think that's one of the lessons we still have, is learning about ourselves, family, friends and country. Jessica wasn't thrilled to re-live the day, but I think it's important to reflect and talk about things. After all that's how we learn and change, right? Where were you when you found out, what was your day like?