Right through the very heart of it...

11th September is a date that will be forged into so many peoples minds. A turning point, catapulting us directly into how we now see the modern world.

I was 15 years old, walking round the local streets delivering papers when a school friend whizzed past me on his bike shouting "Have you heard what happened in America!?".

I hadn't heard. In a rushed outline of the events of that day he sped off on his bike and this became another news story to a 15 year old girl who was posting papers full of stories that would never have as much impact as this one would.

When I got home I told my Mum and Dad about what I had heard and immediately they brushed it to one side, thinking this far fetched story was dreamed up by a bunch of imaginative school kids.

Then I turned on the TV.

There it was, the most disturbing images anyone could possibly imagine, seeing thousands of lives crumbling away while the world silently stood watch, distraught. All of us shocked that a country like the United States of America could be bought to their knees over such a heinous crime.

We watched for days, weeks and months afterwards, stunned to hear about the compassion of people involved. The firefighters and police officers who lost their own lives saving hundreds of people, who instantly became American heroes when those buildings could no longer hold on, after the stress of the devastation each of them had been through.

We saw footage of strangers helping each other through rubble and dust, protecting one another from all the hurt physically and mentally going on around them.

We read the stories of those ordinary people that tried to fight against their attackers and save their fellow passengers.

We heard recordings of those within the planes and the towers, leaving their final ever messages for the people they loved most in the world. Each of them living a nightmare not one of us could ever imagine.

We watched the United States of America be just that. United. They consoled each other, they supported each other and they came together to rebuild a city, and an entire nation.

Currently, thanks to the media and modern day politics, we associate the USA with the person in charge, which is sadly damaging for all involved.

I like to think of the USA as being a nation that overcame an indescribable amount of damage, pain and torture. That came together to fix themselves and to show the world that they are stronger for it.

I like to think that we can all have that inside us.

I believe we can all be the Phoenix.

To all those who sadly lost their lives in the 9/11 terror attacks.

You won't ever be forgotten, for you are all heroes.

xx Kim xx