five years later

everyone has their own story of where they were five years ago. i was a freshman at college in washington, dc. the day before i had made a running date for 11 am with a guy i haven't hung out with since. i woke up and tori was at her computer. whoever she was talking to on instant messenger with must have told her what happened, because she said "oh my god, turn on the tv." we turned it onto the news and there was a tower up in flames.

there was a lot of time spent out in the halls talking with everyone about what was happening. jill spent a good part of her day waiting to hear from her father, who worked in another world trade center building. he was all right.

i forget what time my first class was at... around ten, i think. i got myself over to the music building for harmony, but everyone, including my teacher, was sitting in the music school's lounge, with a tv dominic had pulled out. we sat there for a while, watching it, not sure what the school was going to do for the rest of the day. mr. stark finally said we wouldn't be having class, and i think around that time it was announced that classes would be canceled for the rest of the day. i headed back to the dorms.

because we were in dc, phone lines were really tied up and it was next to impossible to call out or receive calls. finally i got a hold of my mom and we cried over what was going on.

at around noon, the national shrine was having a mass for it, and i remember a lot of people were weary about going there because they thought the blue dome top was more like a big blue target. i went anyway and the basilica was more crowded than i'd ever seen it.

i honestly don't remember much of what happened during the rest of the day. we weren't allowed to go anywhere off campus. a lot of sitting around and talking with new friends over what was happening. most people thought this was only the start of it and that other cities would soon be hit. whenever i heard a military jet fly overhead i falt a pang of panic. i cried off and on. my ra thought i was related to someone in the wtc because she knew i was from ny and i was a mess when i got back from my class. she asked my roommate if i was ok. i got a lot of emails and messages from people back home making sure i was nowhere near the pentagon.

i don't remember when the candlelight service was held downtown, but i also went to that. it's amazing how new i still was to the city and school, because i remember not knowing if i had enough for the metro. we got down to the capital and walked around, i think maybe to the monument. jill and dave wore their "i love ny" t-shirts and their picture was in a newspaper the next day.

five years later and it's a day none of us will ever forget. when i think back about it, it was a horrible day, but i'm really greatful that we were all together in a new, caring community. i was with a group of people my age with tons of supportive staff all around us- no one knew what was happening, but we were all there for each other.