I will never forget the day 9/11 happened. It was a typical morning for a member of a college swimming team, we had been to practice and all headed back to the canteen to grab some much needed breakfast. After getting our food and heading to our regular table at the back, I noticed everyone else had gathered at the front around the TV. We were on the West Coast, so we were about 3 hours behind New York. I told the girls that something was going on, but they were jabbering about something else, so I decided to go have a look myself.
When I got to the crowd and managed to see the TV, I really thought my eyes were deceiving me. Both buildings of the World Trade Centre were in flames, and just as I wondered how that was possible, they showed the second aircraft slamming into the South Tower.
The next few weeks were a complete daze for most people, purely because it was so difficult to comprehend how someone had even thought of using passenger aircraft as weapons, and then actually committed the act. How can anyone use religion as a justification for such attrocities?
What really amazed me was the resilience of the people. Once the shock and raw emotion subsided, a patriotism, compassion and strength, that I had never beared witness, emerged. It was truly humbling.
As I watched the events of the 10 year memorial yesterday, suprised that it had been that long already, I was reminded of the power of memory, and its ability to reignite all that emotion: anger, sadness, frustration, disbelief.
It also reminded me of all those other events I will never forget where I was or exactly what I was doing: Princess Diana's death, the 1995 & 2007 Rugby World Cups, the London bombings of 2005, 2010 World Cup Opening Ceremony..........
What events can you remember so vividly?
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