Four Years Ago TodayToday is the four-year anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks on the United States. While television stations air 9/11 documentaries, my thoughts stretch back to the months preceding September 11, 2001, to the very first time I ever flew on an airplane alone--to my very first visit to New York City.
It was the morning of July 5, 2001. My older sister had driven me to the airport and we arrived early. I was pleased when Rachel said that she would stay with me until it was time for my flight to board. Looking back, I am glad that she was allowed to do just that--that people seeing their loved ones off were not yet viewed as suspect, relegated to hasty farewells outside of security checkpoints.
Flying before September 11 was--at least for me--a "magical" experience. I remember saying good-bye to my sister and stepping onto the plane. I remember fastening my seatbelt and looking out the window as we took off. I remember eating my in-flight meal. I had the steak. Airlines still served food; in fact, many airlines (including Delta, whom I flew) were in the process of improving the quality of their meals.
I landed in New York after dark. Alone in a strange airport, traveling for the first time since I was nine, I stepped through the gate and into the terminal. Nicole and her friend Deanna were standing there, waving a sign with my name written on it in marker; smiles on their faces. I had arrived. I was no longer alone.
My very first visit to Manhattan will forever remain a vivid memory. The moment I set foot on the pavement outside Penn Station and looked up (clearly disobeying the instructions I had been given about how-not-to-look-like-a-tourist) a feeling of excitement came over me. I couldn't believe that I was really there. The city seemed larger-than-life and my only fear was that of a pick-pocket--not of a terrorist.
Life--even in New York--felt much more innocent in July of 2001. I never visited the World Trade Center during that trip. Nicole and I agreed that after a long day of sightseeing, the World Trade Center could wait until "next time." Next time would occur two years later.
The events of September 11, 2001 have changed our world in ways impossible to list. While we remember the victims of terror and those heroes who gave, and continue to give, their lives so that others may live, it is important that we never lose sight of the world which we have lost to the hands of evil--of the little things that are now gone, but not forgotten. I hope that we will always look back fondly to those carefree days before the world knew ultimate terror while simultaneously looking forward to a future filled with peace.
posted at 20:45