Before 9/11

Ten Years Ago: September 10, 2001, Mariah Carey's new album "Glitter" was released, "The Musketeer" was number one at the box office, the U. S. Women's Soccer team remained number one in the world, and the Indiana Colts won against the New York Jets. And on this day, ten years ago, the twin towers still stood. September 10, 2001, "Rumsfeld's Rules" were updated to include the rule: "America ain't what's wrong with the world." Sept. 10, 2001, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld warned of Iraq's pursuit, San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown received a travel warning, Former FBI Agent John O'Neill starts his first day of work at the WTC to become chief of security, and some of the suicide hijackers set aside strict religious beliefs to whet their lusty appetites.

The night before the attacks on the World Trade Center, Osama Bin Laden reportedly underwent kidney dialysis at a Pakistani military hospital in which a "secret team" replaced the regular urology staff. Reports state the special team was obviously up to no good, and that it was clear Bin Laden was simply being surrounded by military.

I, myself, was simply a high school senior fretting over choosing a subject for an English term paper. None of the general public had any idea what was about to happen or the terror that was about to be unleashed upon our country. Time magazine's cover was a very stately image of Colin Powell, and questioned current foreign policies. Was it an omen? A warning? If so, it wasn't the only one. The wife of David Kovalcin, an engineer for Raytheon who would be on Flight 11, recalls his inabillity to sleep multiple nights in a row, being very distressed, pacing, and not sure of the reason. That fateful Tuesday morning, as he was leaving, he left his family a note. "Rebecca, Marina and Mommy, I will miss everybody very much. See you Friday night. I fed the dogs but not the fish."

When Americans are asked what Sept. 10, 2001, was like, many call that Monday "normal" or "ordinary." Just another summer day. The world as we know it changed the very next day. The morning of Sept. 11, 2001, I awoke with a migraine that I was prone to in my teens, and opted not to go to school. As I went downstairs, my mom already had the news on, and as I turned the corner, the newscaster was announcing a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center's north tower. Within minutes, we watched as the second plane demolished the south tower. As we sat, in disbelief, hijackers also flew a plane into the Pentagon. It is a sight, even ten years later, from halfway across the country, I will never forget.

Do you remember where you were? What you were doing? How did you spend the day before?

Alan Jackson's country song asks it best:  "Where were you when the world stopped turning on that September day?"