It was just like any other September day. The weather was mild, breezy, and sunny that really makes your body feel relaxed. On that day of the attacks that hit the World Trade Center in New York, I was at the airport visiting a friend that was flying to Denver. It was the last time that I just went through security. I didn’t see the person that day so I just left. It was really quiet walking back not knowing what was happening in New York on that day. You can say that I was lucky to just get out of the airport. I didn’t see what was happening until I saw a TV that says “WTC towers attacked.” My first thought was “What is the WTC?” So it didn’t really sink in as the time goes by. At work, the whole atmosphere was solemn. Everyone was quiet; the store manager had the TV on all the time. I mean, this was big. I am the kind of person that it takes time for me to realize what was going on. I had to bowl league that night and that was the first time I saw the plane go through the towers. My first thought was not about anger like some people were. My first question is “Why?” Then I couldn’t believe they said the towers fell down. What? The World Trade Center is gone? It still didn’t sink in.
Post 9/11 I was asking more questions. I was not surprised what happened next as our nation will attack when we are being attacked. The president had to do something, even if is something I don’t agree at times but he is the commander in chief. As the day goes by, there was something that was happening around Chicago. There was a mosque being vandalized in Oak Lawn, and there was a lot of anger. It became all surreal for me to deal with and ask myself a lot of questions on what was happening in this world that we are living in. That was the first time the word “Islam” and “Muslim” appeared and I thought, “Interesting. What makes it different and what do they believe in?”
In 2004, I made a decision that will change my life for the better. I was asked to join a bowling league on Saturdays. This was a league for a cause and I thought, “Sure why not! I will be happy to do it for a cause. This was a completely different environment and it is mostly Filipino people. So I started bowling for that league and one of the first things I did was to adapt to everything around me. Learn about the country, culture, people and some of the languages. I am sure that people where surprised and I was eager to learn more about something. I started communicating with people from Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and more from the Philippines. Some are Muslim and some are not. About 5% of the population of the Philippines is Muslim. Just learning more about people and just realizing that able to make friends overseas really makes the world smaller place.
As I am writing this today, I am doing this for myself and how 9/11 made me be the person that I was not before. What I learned and what is has made me today? There is going to be people that will hate and like you. It is better to learn about something than to judge what an individual thinks. Show people respect even if they don’t respect you. Everyone has opinions about anything. Don’t hate, educate. I have learned not to take everything personally and assume everything around me. It has really made me aware how communication though people is the best learning tool for me to use. That is why it is important to me. A lot of people lost their husband, wives, friends, mothers, fathers, uncles, aunts, son, daughter, brother and a sister on that day. I never know when my time is up so it is better to communicate better and learn better. I am still American and I will be American and for me being here in this country and the world is the best gift anyone can have. My recent friend from Malaysia asked me one day when I was more open for myself. I told her it was the day in September that changed the world. Looking back how much I changed and think about things now, I can hope for things will be better and now we can be much nicer to people and learn from them rather than judging. That is my only hope to make the world a better place. A person can dream can’t he? I think any person could.
