Remembering the World Trade Center
I was at my parents house going through pictures and came across our New York pictures.
We had taken a family vacation to New York City back in August 2001. We went to visit a cousin in Baltimore, MD and following, we got a rental car and drove up to New York City. It was our first time to the amazing city. We did all the touristy things such as see the Statue of Liberty, visit Time Square, eat in Little Italy, went to a broadway show and all the other stuff. My dad really wanted to take us to the World Trade Center and we kept complaining that we didn’t want to go. So finally, we all gave in and took a trip to the World Trade Center. I remember walking in and seeing all these international business people coming in and out. There was very high security so once you walked inside, before you reached the elevators, you had to go through a metal 
detector. There was an area for tourists to pay for tickets to go up to the observation deck on the 107th floor. There was a really long line so we waited for a while, grumpy because we didn’t want to go. Finally, we get to the front and it was time for us to get into an elevator. We go all the way to to the top so it took a while. On the top floor, there is a whole mall area and food court. There were many young people working and lots of people from different countries. We walked outside to the observation deck and this is where we took all our pictures. We obviously didn’t have a good camera because the pictures were not very clear. Once we looked over the ledge, we were happy we went.We also took a video a
nd once I convert the file I will upload it. It was an unbelievable view. The building was so high that when we took pictures, you can only see from a certain distance away. The towers blew away the other high rises in the city. We hung out up there for a while just appreciating the view. The weather was perfect too. New York looked really amazing from atop.
After vacation, we all went back to work and school. I went back to Austin to attend classes at the University of Texas. Exactly a month later, 
as I was walking to my Calculus class, I get a phone call from my dad. He told me that the World Trade Center had been hit. He was watching the news while telling me this and all of sudden, he started yelling and said “the other tower is being hit right now.” I heard him telling me this but it really didn’t sink in until I got back to my apartment and turned on the news. I couldn’t believe it. All the memories of our New York trip a month before began going through my head. I thought of all those international business people working,
all the tourists that paid to go atop and all the workers that worked in the mall and food court area. It was the biggest hit to my stomach I had ever felt.
I have been back to New York twice since then. Both times, I have visited Ground Zero. It’s like having a hole in your heart. My prayers go out to all the people that were affected by September 11th.