I can still remember that Tuesday morning, it was like any other ordinary Tuesday. I was in class and ironically enough, I was having difficulty concentrating on anything. It was as if I knew something horrific had happened. And sure enough, just as I was about to write a sentence, my father suddenly showed up at my classroom door. His face was white and trembling , with teary eyes. I looked at him, totally oblivious. I had no idea what was going on, but before I could ask my dad asked the teacher to take me home. I was perplexed and just couldn’t understand why he wanted me home. I asked him but he refused to speak, he remained silent all the way home.
During the ride home, I looked out my window and my eyes widened at the sight before me. Where had the beautiful, magnificent twin towers gone? I asked him repeatedly, “Daddy, where are the towers? Why is there smoke all over the sky?” But he said nothing, and kept that hard as stone expression. We lived in Belle Harbor, a cute town not far from Manhattan.
Then we got home, and the first thing my dad did was turn on the TV. All we could see were the towers burning, collapsing, people jumping to their deaths, and heard endless screaming, crying, and news reports. That was the pivotal moment when I understood. That was the moment where I learned the terrifying truth of the world. People are truly evil, horrendous and inhumane. That was the day I finally understood the meaning of cruelty and hatred. My life was changed forever. We also lost a good friend of the family’s that day. He was a father with a young boy and a very sweet, generous wife.
My parents kept an extremely careful eye on me and my older brother after that. My brother was in Brooklyn that morning, and almost died from the smoke and ashes.Thank God, we were able to rescue him. And then, just a few months later, a plane crashed into Belle Harbor, killing dozens of people on the streets, and hundreds on the plane itself. By a stroke of luck, my family and I were visiting N.C to look for a new home, and my mom had just received a job at a school. As we were celebrating, we got a call from our good friend Richie. “Your house is gone, I’m so sorry… a plane crashed into Belle Harbor, and the engine fell right on top of the gas station near your’e home. There’s no way it could have survived. I’m so sorry.”
We refused to accept what we had just heard over the cell phone, and so we all got into the car and drove home as quickly as we possibly could. My mind was flowing with the most heart wrenching thoughts. “All my toys, my books my bed, my stuffed animals… are gone?” I cried harder then I had ever cried in my life.
But, miracle of miracles, our red brick home was safe and sound!! The engine didn’t explode, by the grace of God. We were shedding tears of joy. Soon after we learned that the wife and son of our friend fled from Belle Harbor to be with the grandma.
To make a long story short, we moved to Charlotte N.C and stayed in a small, cozy cottage for 8 months. Then we moved to Israel and I have been living here ever since. Its been 9 years already, filled with blood, pain, and tears. But I will never forget 9/11. It changed my life for the worst. If it weren’t for 9/11, Id still be in the USA TODAY. But I swore Id return. And so I shall. Im jewish by blood, but American in every way.
Im proud to be an american. No matter what happens, Ill stay strong and never give up.
GOD BLESS YOU ALL!