It was 5 years ago today

I remember the morning well - I had just got out of the shower, and the TV in my room was turned to CNN, just like any other morning. I remember that it was showing pictures of New York - the towers. The first plane had just hit, and the second one was on it's way in. I remember getting a call from my roommate, telling me to turn on the TV, and I knew it was real.

It turned into a strange morning - like anything on a small island, news turned into gossip and then into pure speculation. But I remember how quiet the island was. The flight path for the airport was right over the island, and after living there for more than 2 years, I knew the entire plane schedule by heart. But that week, there weren't any planes, just quiet. The roads were quiet. The island was quiet.

Many of my colleagues didn't make it - I'd never met them, and in ordinary circumstances, I wouldn't know that they'd exist. We all worked for a global company with thousands of employees. But now, they were among the people who'd gone to work early in the towers on Tuesday. They were among those that didn't make it out. The first plane flew into the floors where one of our offices was located.

It doesn't seem possible that 5 years have gone by. 5 years of living a changed life. 5 years of losing an innocence. But it has. And with this, I send my thoughts to those that are left - the rescue workers, the families, the loved ones and those left behind.