Where Were You When the World Stopped Turnin'

(Soly Moses)

Where were you when the world stopped turnin'
That September day?
Were you in the yard with your wife and children
Or workin' on some stage in L.A.?

Did you stand there in shock at the sight of that black smoke
Risin' against that blue sky?
Did you shout out in anger, in fear for your neighbor
Or did you just sit down and cry?

I can still vividly remember how we learnt about what transpired in the US while we were fast asleep during the night. We were having coffee early morning on 12th September 2001 when switching the TV on had us watching the footage on the news in utter shock and disbelief. My cousin whom I was with at that time at a rented house near the city kept yelling "Oh my God!" repeatedly while pointing at the TV screen.

It felt like we were watching a very tragic movie and the villains made something inhuman that made us tear up in distress. But then, it happened in real life many miles away and it was heartbreaking.

It became the topic at the office on that day while we went over piles of receipts and paper works for our auditing job. Even our boss can't stop sighing heavily and saying, "ania met diay nga nangyari..." which roughly translates to "how sad those things happened..." I was working in an accounting firm at that time.

Ironically, when I went abroad in 2003, one of the questions I was asked by someone was where I was when 9-11 happened. The incident was still fresh in people's minds even after 2 years. It made me feel rather guilty because I was in bed, soundly asleep while half of the world probably cried in anguish as they watched the disheartening events unfolded.

The same question was yet again asked to me by my new boss in China (2004) who shared that he was in a hotel in NY preparing to go out when the news broke. "Oh, you cannot believe how the panic was... I was even scared to get on the plane days after that incident..." he narrated.

The above song by Alan Jackson became one of my most played hits when it got released. The lyrics touched the heart so deep and always bring back flashes of what we saw on TV after 9-11. But the same song reminds me of how love makes humanity come together in spirit when catastrophic incidents happen.

I believe 9-11 is one of those historic and tragic events that shocked, angered, saddened and brought fear not only the US, but to the whole world. It's one that although occurred thousands of miles away from where I was (and I was even asleep when it happened and only got to watch on the television screen the following morning), had been inked into my memory. It is something so terrifying yet humbling too, for it makes one more appreciative of peace and love.

And so the moment I saw the lead image on the Blog of the Month prompt, I knew what I was going to share even before I read the whole post. This is my out of competition participation for the BOM's theme, "where were you when..."