Through My Eyes: September 11th

A personal reflection on 9/11, family, loss, and the lessons carried forward.

Twenty-four years ago, my life changed, though at first, I didn’t realize it. I remember exactly where I was when terrorists flew jets into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. I was sleeping, blissfully, for the first time in five days. At the time, I was struggling through a rough patch, mending a broken heart while juggling, a job, and college exams.

My stepfather, who was not a kind man, woke me with harsh words, calling me lazy for sleeping while the world was falling apart. Still half-asleep, I got up and turned on the news. I didn’t need to search for what was happening, it was on every channel. At first, I couldn’t comprehend what I was seeing. It felt unreal, like a scene from a movie. But it wasn’t fiction. It was tragedy. All those lives lost on September 11th shook me to my core.

I had family in New York at the time. My cousin worked for American Airlines, and when we tried calling her, all we reached was voicemail. Fear gripped us as the world seemed to stand still, theories and panic spreading everywhere. Thankfully, we later learned she hadn’t been assigned to either of the hijacked flights. We were lucky, so many others weren’t.

The world changed that day, in ways both good and bad. The good: we became more cautious, more aware of safety and procedures. The bad: suspicion and fear of foreigners grew, sometimes twisting into outright hatred.

For me, the lasting lesson was personal. I hold my friends and family closer now. I may not have lost anyone directly, but I know people who did. In those days after, I was the shoulder they could cry on, and I will never forget the significance of their grief, or the fragility of life that 9/11 revealed to us all.


Word Count: 307
Prompt: Write a story about the aftermath of a national tragedy and how it changed the world. Use Drama as one of your categories.
Written for: "The Writer's Cramp"