Back on that tragic day I was in 4th grade. As the events were unfolding I was actually sound asleep (it was 9pm local time and I had school the next day). I didn’t hear of anything when I woke up the next morning, since my parents do not send me to school–I was fortunate enough to have a driver for that purpose.

On the afternoon of 9/12 local time (about a day after the drama started), my mom came to pick me up, which was very unusual (my driver alone usually picked me up). On the way home, she told me that “the WTC in NYC collapsed because two planes crashed into them”. She did mention that they were hijacked, but back then I was just too young to understand the significance of the tragedy. All I thought about was two beautiful buildings that collapsed. Only a while later (with the War on Iraq, increased airport security etc) did it sink inside me how significant 9/11 was on our lives.

9/11 (9/12 actually) was truly a day that I will never forget. If anything, the fact that I had no idea what was going on added to my fear. In fact, we were scheduled to go to NYC for vacation that Christmas but canceled due to the attacks.