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A UMNS Commentary
By Reggie Morrow*

Reggie Morrow arrived in New York City on a family vacation just as the second plane hit the World Trade Center. A web-only photo from flickr creative commons.

1 P.M. ET September 11, 2011

In September 2001, we decided to take a family vacation to visit my grandmother and other family members in New York City. I was in the fourth grade, and my family — Mom, Dad, my sister Audrey, my brother Russell and I — lived in Dyersburg, Tenn.

We arrived just in time to see the second plane fly into the World Trade Center.

We sat in the car and just stared. My dad told us he used to skip school with a few friends and go downtown while they were building the twin towers. He and his friends would go up so many floors, jump down and play around up there. Hearing that and seeing him cry really let me see that these two tall towers actually meant something and that they were more than just buildings — they were memories.

I saw the second plane hit the towers, and even now, thinking about it, I get chills. I sat there and watched hundreds of people jump out of windows, and wondered, “Is that suicide or is that hope?” Perhaps those people thought of their families and friends and that gave them hope that, just maybe, their lives would be spared.

Reggie Morrow today. A web-only photo courtesy of Reggie Morrow.

All I could think was, “Why would someone do this? How could people be so hateful and careless?”

Just months before — in April — New Generations Ministries Youth Choir, one of my dad’s choirs, had gone to New York to perform a concert. I recalled standing outside, on the very top of one of the towers, and looking at the whole New York skyline. Just to think, that could have been us, was so overpowering.

Not very many youth, especially where I’m from, have a story like that.

When I returned home and went back to school, everybody stared at me. My teacher said they were worried because they didn’t know if I had made it. People were interested in my story. After that, every year around Sept. 11, I would tell about being in New York that day or write a paper about it for class.

As horrifying as the 9/11 attacks were, I remember how the people of the United States pulled together, determined to make something positive out of a very negative experience. My parents encouraged me to enjoy life and live it to the fullest.

The young remember 9/11

In September 2001, Luke Eastin lived in Glasford, a village of Peoria, Ill. “I was in sixth grade, played basketball and went to Illini Bluffs Middle School, and really, I didn’t know a whole lot about politics or anything like that,” Eastin began. Hearing about the first plane flying into the World Trade Center, the teacher turned on the TV, and the class watched as the second plane hit the South Tower. That evening, Eastin’s parents explained what had happened that day. More...

Share your thoughts about 9/11

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I still see New York as a city of dreams and opportunities.

Today, I study at the Art Institute of Ohio. After I graduate and build my portfolio and experience, I hope to move to New York for a job or an internship in video production or with a movie studio, anything along the lines of visual media arts. With that comes hard work and dedication.

I like to think 9/11 influenced me to work hard and never give up.

See complete coverage of the 9/11 anniversary.

*Reginald Morrow attends the Art Institute of Ohio in Mason, Ohio. When he is at home, he attends Greenfield (Tenn.) United Methodist Church, where his father, the Rev. Russell M. Morrow, is pastor.

News media contact: Barbara Dunlap-Berg, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470  or newsdesk@umcom.org.