But on Sept. 11, 2001, I wasn't sure what was going on at the World Trade Center in New York. So I decided to skip class to see why two planes hit the Twin Towers. It never crossed my mind that the United States was being attacked, nor that I was witnessing history. Until Tuesday around 9 a.m.
Then came reports that a plane hit the Pentagon. Later, another plane went down in Pennsylvania. Four planes down, all passengers dead and all acts of terrorism against America.
And then Tuesday turned into Wednesday. And I continued to watch. Then before I knew it, Friday came. And I watched. Monday marked the first time I stepped back onto campus for class since
Sept. 10, before the world changed. In that time I experienced every possible emotion - including tears that seemed to flow uncontrollably at times. And I wasn't alone.
I watched Dave Letterman's return to CBS Monday night. Letterman had veteran CBS news anchorman Dan Rather as his lead guest. I have never seen Rather so choked up - tears coming from his eyes. He apologized to Letterman for not being professional. Letterman's response was to let Rather know he was human like the rest of us.
And suddenly I realized what I have been feeling. I realized I had my heart broken. And shortly after the tears stopped running from Rather's face, I decided we could all do something.
A friend told me the true judge of character is what you do when no one is around. As a nation we owe it to those who have suffered great losses during this tragedy to be better people. Make a difference and help our fellow countrymen.
If I could change one day, make it never happen, for purely selfish reasons; if I could change one day only because it has made me a smaller, angrier, more afraid man, it would be Sept. 11.
If I could stop one day from happening, just to save thousands of lives, I would be so damn happy that I never had to face this or think about it ever again.
