I was a freshman in college, city of Camden, NJ (Camden is right across the river from Philly). It was the first week or so of school and I was at my work study campus job when my boss came in and said the universtity is closed and we all have to leave the campus. I already knew something was going on, but the magnitude, the true meaning had not sunk in. After that, it was a crazy rush of people leaving campus trying to get home. I took the subway home and I've never seen it so crowded at that time a day in my life. On the subway it was panic bordering on hysteria. People were on there praying, some crying, some just looking stunned with disbelief. I've never seen anything like that, nor do I care to see it again. Cell phone service was down by the time I got off the subway and started walking home. I couldn't call my Mom or boyfriend at the time in Florida to let them know I was OK. I couldn't do that until much later in the evening. When I got home, I watched the footage of the planes going into the towers and them falling over and over until the images were seared inside my head. Until I was numb inside, until ice ran in my veins. I wanted to shut off all feeling because it was just overwhelming. I went over to check on my Uncle at some point and he was as serious as I've ever seen him. The emotions, the tears came later, when I was able to reach my Mom on the phone and the floodgates just opened.
I remember all this as it was yesterday and it has been ten years gone. It will haunt me forever, I don't think there is any forgetting that. There is no turning back. I pray for those who were lost in this senseless act. I will never stop praying. One thing I hope for is that the people responsible will one day have to face the wrath of their own God, whose crimes they committed in His name.