Never Forget (or How I Will Always Remember This Day)

It’s the 11th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. I didn’t lose anyone that day, nor did anyone I know have a close call. But I will never forget exactly what happened that day for me.

I was in my freshman year at LMU. I had a great schedule of classes where I didn’t have to be up early any day of the week. On Tuesday morning, I had my acting class. But before my alarm went off that day, my RA knocked on the door. My roommate answered, and my RA asked if either of us had family in New York, Washington DC, or in Pennsylvania. I answered that I had family in all three places and my RA said “you better call and make sure your family is still alive”. I will never forget her saying those words. I’m sure they came out so harsh because she was stressed and had to deal with a lot of freshmen under her care. But those words shook me to my core. I called my mom, and none of my family was affected. But I was scared beyond belief.

This happened less than a month after I left home for the first time. I didn’t know what to do. Was I supposed to get into my car and drive the 6 hours back home? Did I have to go to class that day? Was it still safe in Los Angeles?

I ended up going to my acting class. My professor excused us all. None of my classes happened that day. I remember finally getting a waffle to eat sometime in the afternoon. And then I watched all the news I could on the tiny tv my roommate had in our dorm room.

The next day, at least in the little bubble that was LMU, everything was back to normal. I went to all my classes. That weekend I was scheduled to work at a charity car wash. I don’t remember what the original charity was, but we had changed it to go to help the rescue effort in New York.

I will always think about those lives lost 11 years ago. Today is a day to remember, and to never forget.

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