Remembering 9/11/01


I remember exactly where I was do you? I was a student at BYU and I had just stepped out of the shower when my roomate Kelly walked into the hallway and said "bad things are happening Suzanne..... " I went into her bedroom with her and listened to the radio (I'm glad at least one of us was intune with the world!) where we heard the report of the second plane stiking the other tower live. I'll never forget the sense of panic and helplessness that felt like they were going to burst from my chest. There was nothing I, a 21 yr old college student in Utah, could do to help all of these suffering people. Every bit of me wanted to rush to New York and help find survivors. As it was there was a sister in my ward who's father worked in the WTC who couldn't reach her family, I'll bet my sense of helplessness was nothing compared to hers. Fortunately at this point my appartment didn't have a tv, or I know I would have been unable to tear myself away from the news coverage the whole day. I went onto campus and everyone was in shock. I walked through the bookstore and had to pick my way through crowds of students who were crying and hugging while they watched events unfold on the tv. In the "quad" between the bookstore and the HFAC there was a drama professor wearing his I "heart" NY shirt collecting money to aid those affected. (this was at 9 or 10 am, everybody had the same feeling I did, they wanted to do anything they could) I walked into my class expecting to find a bunch of shocked students and a professor trying to comfort them. Instead I found that our professor had gone on as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening and they still took attendance. I found that that was what really disturbed me that day, not how different the day was, but how many things were the same in the face of such a tragedy. I think I made it through about 3 minutes of lecture before I told the TA (who I was sitting next to) that I had to leave. I just couldn't handle sitting in a class talking about medieval music while people were dying. I think I grew up a lot that day as I watched the horrific events of that day uncensored. It's a day I'll never forget and I hope I don't struggle to remember.


Besides all of the horrible things that happened that day a lot of incredible things happened as well. I really loved something Pres. Bush said today during the dedication of the pentagon memorial, he said (something to the effect of....)
"That day as the Towers fell, Heroes rose." We saw some pretty incredible people do some pretty amazing things that day.