Dear Incoming Niece

9/11 Attack Letter

Dear Layla,

On September 11, 2001, a tragedy happened in New York City. That was the day thousands of people died.  Terrorist had jacked two planes and crashed into the twin towers. The day it happened, I was sitting in my living room eating a bowl of ice-cream. When I saw the news, my jaw dropped to the floor. I started to tear up. I ran to the phone to call my aunt. I could hear her voice cracking over the phone. She made the statement, "we're living in hell, trapped."

There were a lot of firefighters on duty that day. The twin towers were widely to be considered symbols of America's power and influence. One tower was taller than the other. The shortest tower had collapsed. The first thing I thought about was the people who were in that building. The news later stated that nearly 3,000 people had died in the attack, including all 227 civilians and 19 hijackers. There was black smoke everywhere. I was on the phone with my aunt the entire time. There were 343 firefighter paramedics, 23 New York City police officers and 37 Port Authority police officers. They were struggling to complete evacuation of the buildings.  The office workers who were trapped on the higher floors were killed during this tragedy. I just could have imagined how their families felt as they mourned over their loved ones deaths.

That day, I cried myself to sleep. It's strange how the things that do not affect you physically, still can affect you mentally. Sometimes I think, I wish there was something I could have done to prevent that day from happening, but no one has those kind of powers. I am grateful that you did not have to go through that, because it hurts bad to know that a lot of people died because of ignorance. The day 9/11 happened, a lot of hearts were broken, and I was one of them.

Love,
Jessyca