One year later, memories still vivid

Eric O´Link -- Associate Editor

A little over two years ago on a sunny July afternoon, I stood in the plaza between Twin Towers and gazed up, up, up.

Yes, I’m talking about New York’s World Trade Center.

Even though I was only in New York City for three days, I have several vivid memories of the towers.

I remember how impressed I was by their height and dominance over the skyline as I took the Circle Line boat tour around Manhattan Island.

I remember smiling at seeing their twin silhouettes through the haze, towering over downtown, as I gazed from the top of the Empire State Building.

I remember taking a picture of this old church, dwarfed by the buildings around it, in downtown. I took the picture because the antiquity of the steeple was a sharp contrast to one of the World Trade towers, which filled the sky behind and above the steeple.

I remember standing in that plaza, my neck craned as my eyes chased those sleek glass-and-steel lines that soared into the blue.

It was a completely impressive sight. So impressive that the World Trade Center was the highlight of that trip. The Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building were amazing, too, but not as personally fantastic as the Twin Towers.

Memories, and pictures like those in my “My Trip To New York” photo album, now are all that remain.

Where were you on Sept. 11, 2001? I think that is going to become a question with as much significance as “Where were you when Kennedy was shot?”

Like many of you, I was just getting out of the shower, ready to enjoy the delicious mix of warm morning sunshine and chilly morning air on the way to class. Like many of you, when I turned on the TV that morning, the image that confronted me was so horrific and incomprehensible that it will forever be burned into my mind.

I felt numb the rest of the day-I couldn’t stop thinking about all the people who perished.

It was such a beautiful day here at St. Cloud State, and even from the TV footage it looked like a pretty day there, too-yet it was the blackest day that most of us had ever seen.

This week, in one of my classes, our professor had us each write one word that came to mind when we thought about the terrorist attacks. I thought long and hard, and finally decided: change.

Thousands of lives changed. Air travel changed. Security changed. Our perception of our place in the world changed. Our thoughts, attitudes and our reality as Americans changed. The way people in other countries viewed the United States changed. The world changed.

But Sept. 11, in all its tragedy, was not a day we, as Americans lost. It was a day we found our patriotism, our pride in our country.

It was a day we were more proud than any other day to stand tall, together, wave our flag and celebrate our freedom. It was a day in which countless heroes inspired us with their brave, selfless acts. It was a day that reminded us how dear our friends and families were to us. It was a day we found strength, hope, faith and love in each other.

As this anniversary passes, it is important to remember and memorialize those who lost their lives one year ago. And I think it is equally important for us to remember the what it means to be free, and how incredibly precious our freedom is.

Then the victims of Sept. 11 will not have died in vain.

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