Thoughts about 9/11

I remember in Jr. High, a teacher telling us about JFK's assasination. He said you can ask anyone alive at that time what they were doing when they heard the news and they could tell you every detail of what they were doing. I thought that was interesting and then on 9/11/01 I knew exactly what he meant.
I was living in New York going to culinry school. The class was meat fabrication and we met early in the basement of the school. It was basically a giant refrigerator so the meat wouldn't spoil as we learned to butcher different cuts. I wore thermal underwear under my chef whites to try and stay warm but my fingers were so cold I couldn't even feel the knife I was holding.
We went into a side room where our instructor, Chef Seabold, would show us slides and we would take notes. Chef stepped out for a while and then came back in and resumed the slides. I figured out later that this is when the first plane struck. At lunch break is when the rest of us heard what happened. I skipped lunch and went to my dorm room to watch the news. I had 19 messages on my answering machine from family and friends making sure I was alright. I lived a 1 1/2 hr train ride away from Manhattan but would go up frequently to spend a day. Outside, I could see smoke billowing in the far distance. It was so shocking. I remember the rage and sorrow from my classmates and other students.
Going back to class after lunch, Chef tearfully asked for a moment of silence and then we resumed the lesson. Life would never be the same.
3 weeks later, my roommate and I went to the city to ground zero. You couldn't get close but even from far the wreckage was immense. And the smell was awful. The air was still dusty and clouded. It seemed so out of place to have a wide-open gap of empty space in a big city so crowded with buildings. The streets were lined with photos of loved ones missing. There were so many, it seemed you couldn't possibly read them all.
Last night, as I tucked Caleb into bed, I explained what happened ten years ago today. I didn't want him to see pictures or videos but I wanted him to know about why it is a day of remembrance. He liked hearing about the brave firefighters and how almost every American had the flag on their car or house or on their clothes.
I remember how united our country felt in those months after 9/11 and hope we can get there again without another tragedy.