II

Ten years ago on September 11, I vividly remember sitting on the sofa in the one bedroom apartment I, my two sisters, and parents shared, all alone watching what was unfolding in the same city I was living in. I was not comfortable with the high school I was placed in so I was not going to school regularly. Sept. 11, 2001 was one of those days I wasn't feeling like going to school. Usually in the mornings, everyone would be up around the same time, 7:00 am. My sisters were in kindergarten and just entering middle school, so my dad would drop them off at school in the mornings along with my mom who would usually make sure my little sister made it to kindergarten well. On this morning, my mom also had a specialist appointment. Everyone was usually out of the house around 7:25 am. I always, always, remember the calm the street I lived on had. It was a calm of presence, a sense of no-worries so to say, everyone was doing their "thing" and there was nothing to worry about. As I remember, I woke up just like everyone else in my house, early, but I was not going anywhere, or so I thought. So, another skipped day of school for me is how I thought Sept. 11 would be for me and as I lazed around and clicked through the channels, I clicked onto channel 10, CNN. I was awaiting news, regular ol' news, what was happening in New York City was however, breaking news.
To this day I still clearly remember, working with my dad, it was towards the end of my summer vacation, at least two weeks before Sept. 11, 2001 and we were driving on a major street in Queens. I looked out my window on the passenger side and saw them standing there, from a distance all they looked like sometimes were two metal beams, one with a needle on top. I ask my dad, "Do you think the twin towers can ever be destroyed?" He answered as he was getting ready to make a turn, "No, no way, those things are strong. They already tried to take them down but do you know how hard you have to try to take those things down?" Whatever was needed to bring these towers down, the conditions were met on this day ten years ago.
As the day unfolded, I was not able to get in contact with my father more than one time, who could have very well been in one of the affected areas in lower Manhattan (I was in one of the towers 2-3 weeks before 9/11), my mom called me at home to let me know she was a few blocks away and on her way home, and my sisters were in school. When my mom arrived home, we decided to make our way downtown and get my sisters back home, as schools around New York were urging parents to pick up their children ASAP. Public transportation was very challenging as trains were not working and buses were very, very packed. As soon as we left the apartment, word spread that one of the towers had collapsed and debris was spreading throughout New York City. The street I lived on was seeing fear, even miles away from this catastrophe, people from up and down my block were trying to find others, yelling their names aloud. Eventually, my sisters, mother and I made it back home. My dad made it home much earlier than usual as his company demanded that everyone go back their homes due to the panic and scattering happening in lower NYC.
Family from across the Hudson in New Jersey were asking if we wanted to come and stay with them, we stood our ground and never left our city. In the coming days and weeks, my father came to find out that his close friend, Juan Armando Ceballos, the friend who first gave my father a place to stay when my father first arrived to the U.S. for the first time was among the missing in the tragedy of 9/11. Soon, my family connected with Juan's family who had to come to the U.S. to affirm they were his family and confirm any body parts found of Juan were actually of him. In these 3-4 months in which I saw a different side of my father, a much more humanitarian side, and maybe possibly the only time I saw a different side of my father, I am still very touched by the help, any help we were able to provide Juan's family with. From helping them find a place, to getting them furniture, to helping them get around and assist in figuring out where to go for questions and answers about their father/husband. The sympathy, care, and most of all, the love my family was able to provide Juan's family with grew in me very much, so much that I believe it is a driving force towards my dreams and hopes. In this experience the lesson for me was very clear: It's not what you go through, I could have lost someone in my immediate family, I could have not have lost anyone but I still went through this for whatever reason that is, everyone goes through different experiences, yet, everyone can say and tell of their stories but it does not matter if those experiences didn't shape you as much as this experience shaped me.
September 11 is a day of respect. Today is just another day, it's also a day which I personally take some time to connect with those perished in my way as I see fit. To ask everyone to stop on such a day is not needed because everyone has a different way of looking at this experience. There are some who still hold much truth that the government had some knowledge or even played a part in aiding the attacks of 9/11 as there as many as well who also maintain that this was a blatant attack of terrorism and we must continue protecting ourselves against them. So, 9/11/11 is just that a day, live it as you will, whatever action you take today will not change what has already happened nor can it definitely stop what will happen.