Today, 19 years ago one of the world's worst terrorist attack happened. I was only 10 years old, I didn't understand much what was going on. I was in Italy, I had the tv open and I saw from my mom's expression that something really bad had just happened in New York. Since then, every year for the 9/11 anniversary, I turn on the tv and I see the broadcast that transmits live people in NY, repeating the names of those who died that day. I don't know why just a way to feel closer to my second country and to the innocent people who lost their lives.
2977 people, from different countries and nationalities, who didn't come back home, who didn't hug or kiss their families again, whose lives were interrupted forever.
The United States of America had been hit in their heart. This is the saddest day of all, for the world and most of all for the States. Every year, the world and Americans remember that chilly September day. No one, until we will live, we will never forget what happened. We must tell our future generations the tragedy that shocked this country. Life stopped that day in 2001, in a morning with a blue sky that turned into a dark night without stars, and still stops every year on September 11th. Each year for this anniversary Americans stop what they are doing and think, think of what they were doing that day, think of who they have lost, think of how their lives changed, how normality got destroyed. Everyone thinks about what happened, how something so terrible could have happened in such a powerful country.
No one will ever forget when they saw on tv the towers collapsing, such a helpless and terrifying memory. After 19 years, the emotion is always the same: a mixture of sadness, tearfulness, pain, fear, silence, and unhappiness are the feelings experienced every year.
Normal people were just living a normal life: went to work, got a plane, were jogging, were taking a walk in the park, were at the hairdresser, or at home; their normal routine disappeared in one minute. They got up that morning, they went to work and they didn't know it was the last time they kissed their wives and kids. That night the sun faded in those families too. Many people's lives were transformed forever, fathers, mothers, sons or daughters, boyfriends or girlfriends, wives or husbands, didn't get back home that night, didn't hug or kiss their loved ones.
Many firefighters, police officers, workers were just doing their job, they were working for a better future, they were fighting to keep people safe, they all had plans, those who had to get married, those who were expecting to be a father, they all had their lives and family home. So many people lost at least one member of a family or knew someone who unfortunately lost their lives. Some of them had a chance to call family to say how much they loved them, from a phone. It gives me chills, to just think about it, or read about many witnesses. How terrible that can be?
The twin towers, the tallest buildings in the world collapsed in just a few minutes, there wasn't sufficient time for the people to escape. Many innocent lives got killed, and many of the people who survived changed forever. Millions of people lost their lives, and many of them who survived suffer from serious illnesses that dust caused.
It was the worst day in American history but it brought out the best in all of us, the bravest acts of American history. The power of hate, violence, and destruction brought humanity, unity, and love. People who risked their lives to save strangers and the country united to overcome that tragedy together. This is America.
I wanted to cite this incredible quote: "On this day… 19 years (September 10th) ago, 246 people went to sleep in preparation for their morning flights. 2,606 people went to sleep in preparation for work in the morning. 343 firefighters went to sleep in preparation for their morning shift. 60 police officers went to sleep in preparation for morning patrol. 8 paramedics went to sleep in preparation for the morning shift. None of them saw past 10:00 am Sept 11, 2001. In one single moment life may never be the same. As you live and enjoy the breaths you take today and tonight before you go to sleep in preparation for your life tomorrow, kiss the ones you love, snuggle a little tighter, and never take one second of your life for granted."
"There won't be a day, during our lives that this episode will be forgotten and it's our will to not repeat it."
