I was running when I found out

My Sept. 11 experience was something that will always stay with me. It was a surreal day that seemed neither long nor short.

Everything started normally. I had to be at school at 7:30 a.m., so my alarm rang at 6, telling me it was time to run. I grabbed my shoes, my hand-held radio, put the ear buds in and took off running around the block.

As the sports geek I am, I wasn’t listening to music, I was tuned into KNBR 680, a sports station. It’s how I received the scores to games in high school, but on this day, it was different. As I took my first corner on the streets of Tracy, a somber voice came on.

Gary Radnich spoke slowly and confused.

“We are just getting word, a plane has hit the World Trade Center in New York,” Radnich said.

Almost instantly, the question was asked if it was on purpose. And for the next few minutes of my run that’s all what was said. No sports.

As the second tower was struck, I went spiriting home; I had to tell my parents. See, I had family by the Towers.

My cousin Kristen was a schoolteacher at the steps of the Towers. I knew she would be there, and I was worried. Luckily she was O.K.

As I arrived home, my parents were already gathered around the TV, I guess my uncle called. My mom and dad had their eyes glued to the TV as their mouths slowly drooped down. They were worried just as much as I was. But that wasn’t the worst.

I saw the Towers fall live. I was horrified, confused and any other horrible thing you can think of. I was just there, in that building a year earlier. I touched the globe out in front of the two majestic towers. It affected me more than I realized.

The rest of the day was somber and quiet. None of my freshman classmates knew what to say-- neither did my teachers, the faculty and my parents.

Instead, we just gathered around in silence, staring at the TV. In my 21 years I have never spent a day as quiet as that day, and I don’t ever expect to.