My 9/11 Memorial

I honestly don't think much about it, but, I do remember a time I'd been there, which I'm thankful for.

It was 99/00, New Year's time; Kenya and I had gone to New York for it. This was, I think, her first time out east; mine too. I'd wanted to go to New York for a long time, and New Year's always meant a lot to me, so it was perfect. Kenya was always up for travel. As it happened the World Trade Center was one of the sites I was keen to visit. I had no idea what I was in for, I just knew it was in New York... We took the subway, everywhere and, down to the World Trade Center. We exited the train and to our equal surprise, even dismay, we entered a mall that was located under the World Trade Center. I don't think either of us could believe it, and we were a little bit taken aback by the existence of a mall beneath the World Trade Center, it was just so tacky, so American. We made our way up to the ground levels of the World Trade Center, coming up an escalator into the North Tower, I believe. We started walking around and, noticing a huge line, we weren't sure what it was for. We walked up to a gentleman working at the elevator and quizzed him about what was going on:

"What's the line for?"

Going up to the observation deck, sir.

"Oh, How long does that take?"

4 Hours, sir.

"How can we get up there right away?"

There is a half hour wait for a table at the restaurant, sir.

"Can we get a reservation?"

Black shoes and tie required sir.

"Oh, ok thanks!"

And with that we walked away and continued to explore the grounds of the World Trade Center and take it in. I did get to see it, to gaze up from the ground as it reached to the sky, to admire the unique architecture. I was disappointed that we didn't get to go up to the top, but I was glad we were together in New York; it was such a mild winter and we saw so much of the city.

When we went back to New York for 00/01, we didn't even bother with the World Trade Center, just kept to ourselves a bit, it was such a cold winter, it was so fun to see New York in a white out... It was that morning of 9/11/01 when Kenya's mother called us, telling us to turn on the television. We were both getting ready for work and found this request rather odd and tedious, but I turned it on and couldn't believe my eyes, thought it was a hoax, but never once felt fear. I was angered that Kenya and I hadn't made it up to the top of those buildings, was disappointed. It wasn't until they came crashing down that I really felt more glad that we had actually been there.

When I reflect on it now, I'm very glad we actually saw the World Trade Center, were among the towers, and have that experience. I would only change my reaction to being told, "black tie and shoes;" I'd have gone back down to that mall and we could have bought nice new clothes, just so we could have lunch up there...I always think like that now, just do what it takes to get the most out of any moment, make the moment, because it's the only thing for sure.