It seems like yesterday when I think of what it was like watching the news on that terrible day.
But so much has changed in my life since then.
I was a rookie reporter on Sept. 11, 2001. Since that day I’ve gotten married, we’ve had three children, and we have raised our family in a home of our own.
When I think about it in those terms it seems like forever. I’m not the same man I was on that day.
It also helps me realize the depth of the tragedy our nation has suffered.
Nearly 3,000 Americans didn’t get to experience all of those life changes. To think that so many innocent people were killed to make some kind of sick statement is hard to comprehend.
Just like my parents can remember where they were when they heard John F. Kennedy was assassinated, I can remember exactly what I was doing when I realized our nation was under attack. They still thought it was a freak accident that a plane hit the first tower when I first caught it on the news. As soon as I saw that second plane hit the trade center, I knew it was no accident.
I lived in Cleveland at the time where I was a student at Delta State and a staff writer for The Bolivar Commercial. Even in the Delta, people were panicking. There were long lines at every gas station in Cleveland, and I was just about out of gas. I drove five minutes down the road to Ruleville and filled up with no problem. There were no lines anywhere.
I stayed busy the entire day helping with coverage for both The Bolivar Commercial and DSU’s student newspaper, The Delta Statement. That night I couldn’t sleep because I couldn’t stop watching the news.
As the memory of Sept. 11 slowly fades with each passing year, so does the great feeling we all shared when Americans came together 20 years ago to prove that our nation is truly indivisible. We desperately need to get some of that spirit back.
