Lori Wong Photography

Where were you on that day?

It’s a question that is asked often. It will be asked the rest of our lives. It’s something I will never forget. Not because of where I was, but because of how I felt.

I was working in a retail store. We had be there early to take a shipment. We had finished taking the boxes off the truck were unpacking them. It had become the custom to listen to the radio as we unpacked. I was fairly close to where the radio sat, when they announced that a plane had it one of the Twin Towers in New York City. I was confused. But I kept working on unpacking clothes. As the minutes passed, I realized this was real. Then they reported the second plane hitting the Towers. That’s when I realized what was truly happening. Something bad. Something that will changes lives on a large scale.

What immediately came to my mind was the people in those buildings. The people in the planes. I was concerned about what they were going through in that moment while I was standing in the middle of clothes that were sitting patiently waiting to be unpacked, to be bought and worn. I felt small and useless. There were thousands of people on the other side of the country that were going through something horrendous. Beyond scary. Thousands of people knew their lives would be ending soon. And that’s when I realized I was crying. To try and not to think about it, though that’s all I could do, I kept working. I kept unpacking clothes and folding them onto a table. One of my managers came over and asked if I needed a break. I didn’t. The last thing I wanted to do was to sit in an empty break room, all alone, and think about the awful events transpiring in New York City, in Virgina, in Pennsylvania.

I said a silent prayer, full of tears, as I kept working. A prayer that those who were faced with the realization that their lives would end soon, that they were able to find comfort in those around them. That they were going to have peace in their hearts. That they knew in that moment that they were loved.

We went home soon after we finished unpacking all the clothes and putting them away. The shopping center I worked in was empty. The city shut down. The nation shut down. There was an eerily quietness in the world. I sat in front of the television all day. There were moments I couldn’t take it any more. To selfishly get away from it, I slept a few hours. But it didn’t matter. It happened and was still happening when I woke up. My heart hurt.

I will never forget that day. I will never forget how I felt. I hope that I will have the ability all my life to be mindful of those in need, in pain and remember that everyone needs to feel loved. I hope more than anything to remain grateful and respectful for those who allow me the privileges and freedoms that I have.