Firmly etched into my brain

Like many Americans, it is a day that will always stand out in my mind.

I was sitting at home, looking at one of my college textbooks before I headed off to class while flipping channels.

I stopped on Fox News when I saw smoke billowing from one of the World Trade Center buildings.

Not quite believing what I saw, I quickly flipped through all the other news channels wondering if my mind was playing tricks on me like it tends to do.

Reluctantly, I turned back to Fox News because they seemed to have the best camera angle only to see the most incredible, yet disgusting scene ever to cross my vision.

Seemingly in slow motion, a plane came from the left side of the screen and slammed into the second building.

I was motionless.

I wondered if this was our generation's Pearl Harbor and if a new world war was beginning.

I went to my classes and, like most of my classmates and professors, felt like I was moving through sludge the rest of the day.

When I went to work later that day, my co-workers and I at Heros (which was sort of like a Chuck-E-Cheese) were working at hyperspeed preparing food and making sure all the games worked properly, expecting a big crowd to come and have something enjoyable to salvage from the day.

We were wrong. We maybe had four customers the entire day so we spent most of the night discussing anything and everything to keep from dwelling on what we all saw on the television that morning.

It is a day to remember not only the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives, but to reflect on our own lives, be grateful we are alive and realize that even the most insignificant moment in our day could be the last moment in our lives.