13 years ago I was channel surfing and passed something that looked like a movie. I saw smoke coming out of tall buildings and helicopters flying around it and didn't think much of it until I realized I just passed CNN. I turned back and was glued to the TV for the rest of the day. I remember hearing them say the Pentagon had been hit and then a plane crashed in PA and wondering when it would stop and where the next target was. I remember feeling scared and so helpless and my heart broke every time they showed people wondering around so lost and confused. You never expect to go to work like it's just a normal day and then the unthinkable happens. I also remember the heroes from that day...the passengers of United Airlines Flight 93, the men and women of the NYPD and NYFD that when everyone else was running out they ran in, regular everyday citizens that were seen tending to people's wounds while they themselves were bleeding and hurt. I remember the days, weeks and months after when we weren't 50 states but 1. They broke our hearts but couldn't break our spirit. We were all New Yorkers. We were bound, not only, by our sadness but by our willingness to not let this keep us down. I prepared for war, prayed for the families of those that lost loved ones and for our soldiers that would be sent to defend us and our home. 9/11 changed us forever but if you look through the sadness you will see that it changed us in good ways too. It made us realize how precious life is and that it shouldn't be taken for granted. The only sad part is it took terrible tragedy for people to remember that while we may not all be from New York we are all Americans and if we stand together no enemy, domestic or foreign, can bring us down.
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