Ripples of 9/11 Affect Us 10 Years Later

It started out as such a great day. I woke up around 5:30 a.m., to make the drive from Napa, my home at the time, to Sac State where I had an early-morning Native American studies class.

The lessons of the day however were dwarfed by something more important, at least at the time. It was my 25th birthday.

I arrived to class in a good mood; after all, this was my special day and one that we usually celebrate with a nice dinner.

(I had been listening to cd's on the way to school, no radio, and hence did not know what was happening.)

The day however, quickly turned to horror when news of the attacks began spreading throughout the campus.

"Did you hear that the first tower fell?" said a student in the class.

"Oh my God what's happening?" said another.

Our teacher turned on the TV so that we could see what was going on, and we watched what was unfolding at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and Pennsylvania. Unsure of what was happening -- if some other nefarious plan was being carried out -- the college's administrators closed the campus and cancelled classes for the day.

Then, it was off to work.

At the time, I was working at a collection agency and everyone at work was also talking about the attacks and joking about how bad it would suck to have a birthday on a day when thousands died.

I was not amused.

The rest of the day came and went, with talk centering mostly about 9/11. Little did we know what was to come.

I have asked the question of Here is how it has affected me:

- My friend was killed in Iraq while serving in the U.S. Army. Jerry was manning a checkpoint in the Baghdad area when insurgents attacked it with a car rigged to blow up. My friend was killed in the blast. There are thousands of troops in harm's way, as Jerry was, and I thank them and respect them for their service. I honor their families as well, and honor those who have paid the ultimate price.

- I have realized that this country is not as safe and secure as I would like it to be and that an attack can happen at any given time, to any given target. Sometimes I go to places such as the mall, or any other place where there are tons of people and ask myself the question "How easy would it be for someone to attack right now." It's always in the back of my mind. 

- I was not always a big fan of flying, but post 9/11, it puts me off even more.

- No one, at least those who are close to me, forget my birthday. At the same time, I will never forget what happened on Sept. 11, 2001.