HTT - 9/11 Edition

I recently read a book where the character remembers September 11, 2001. She didn't live in New York, she didn't lose anyone in the various attacks, but she remembers her mom rushing to her high school to get her. She remembers people crying and screaming and watching the news coverage in horror.

And, well, I just don't get it.

Just like I've never really understood the phrase "post-9/11 America" when referencing things like entertainment and real estate instead of national security.

It's not because I'm cold or heartless, though I sometimes struggle with people who treat national news stories as their own personal tragedies.

The real reason I don't get it is because I wasn't here.

As I've mentioned, I was serving an LDS mission in El Salvador on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. I do remember that day - I walked into the mission office as usual only to have a missionary tell me, "You've got to see this - someone bombed the World Trade Center." I then walked over to the computer and saw the now infamous footage of the first tower spewing flames where a plane hit it.

The rest of the day is a blur. Missionaries were ordered to stay home for fear of any anti-American uprisings. We were allowed to watch a bit of news coverage, which is where I saw the two towers collapse. I felt confused, I felt hurt, I felt worried for those who lost loved ones, but I didn't really feel scared. Like the incessant reports of Iraq suicide bombings, the news disturbed me, but it felt distant. I felt safe.

A few days later, life returned to normal. We weren't allowed to watch TV or read newspapers once again as is mission policy. Sometimes we'd be stopped by a stranger on the street who would offer condolences for our country's loss. And El Salvador even canceled its Independence Day celebrations as a show of support.

But there weren't American flags flying everywhere. There wasn't a somber atmosphere where raucousness used to reside.

Everything was the same.

By the time I came home in January, people were already recovering. People were flying again. People were less afraid.

But every now and then someone would reference "post-9/11 America," and I would realize that I'd always be a pre-9/11 American. Because despite my nationality, I didn't experience what my country experienced.

Maybe that's why I'd rather take risks than see our privacy invaded. Maybe that's why I think a war in Iraq has nothing to do with terrorism.

Maybe.

I'll never know.

But I'd really like to know what I missed.

Do you remember? Where were you that day? What did you feel? How did life change for you afterwards? And did 9/11 change your life forever or just your country's?
Please share.