The Red Light That Opened My Eyes

September 11, 2001, a date that will always live in the history of our nation. I remember it like it was just yesterday. I was in the seventh grade at Omni Middle School. A child who was getting ready to become a man. I was sitting quietly in Ms. Estep's seventh grade World History class, when suddenly, a familiar voice emerged from the speakers in the classroom, yet from the tone in the voice, we could all sense sorrow and danger. All the teachers were directed to immediately turn on the televisions. What could possibly be wrong? Perhaps it was a tornado warning or the death of President George W. Bush. But, no, it was something much worse and terrifying, something that we never thought could or would happen. As the teacher pushed the power button, silence ignited the classroom. "Oh my god, what is happening?", was the first sentence to come out of my mouth. It felt like we were watching an extreme, action film, but unfortunately, we knew this was real news feed and had to accept the reality of the situation. Given the situation, luckily it was a half day for our school, so we could all go home and be close to the ones we loved during this tragic time in our lives. Being born in New York and having parent's who were raised on Long Island, a portion of relatives and family friends worked in Manhattan, and I remember being so concerned as I stepped into the automobile as my mother picked me up. As soon as I walked into my home, I ran into my father's office. I wanted to make sure that his business partners who worked in the WTC were alright, and as he slowly told me that he has not heard about everyone yet, I began to feel my stomach churn. Fortunately, later that afternoon, he received word that they all made it out and were able to return home to their families that evening. I felt so happy that I began to cry for joy. I'm a very sensitive guy, but I rarely cry like a baby. The last three instances that I cried was the day I was diagnosed with cancer, my grandfather's funeral and my grandmother's funeral. Speaking of my grandfather, this was a very tough time for him. As a veteran of World War II and an individual who loved his country almost as much as his wife, son and daughter and five beloved grandchildren, I believe that witnessing this tragic event on his ill-ridden bed was the bullet that murdered him. Poppy, as I called him, was already severely ill, living off of dialysis machines from day to day, with only one motive for living, to witness his youngest grandchild read from the torah and become a young, Jewish man. However, at 2:00AM on September 16th, Bernard Steinberg passed away at his Boca Teeca apartment with his wife, Mathilda Steinberg by his side. I know how badly he wanted to be at my ceremony of Jewish manhood and how much he loved me, to not have him by my side as I took the oath on the bi'ma, I felt like a part of my spiritual soul was missing. However it made me stronger and a better person. For the next months to come, I remember how our country had evolved from a laissez-faire background into one of the most secure and aware communities. Security measures were tightening up and our nation was coming together as one at the same time. I remember everyone purchased an American flag and placed it on their car to show our nation's that tried to bring us down that no matter how hard you try to destroy us, we will always stand and never fall down. For a brief while, I remember the mentality of many Americans was changing, from very careless individuals into individuals who had hearts of warmth and sincerity. I could discuss the lesson that we as a country learned from this horrible event, but the focus of this composition is on my personal insight and knowledge. As a person, I learned to cherish life and not take everything for granted. I learned that family is more than important than anything in life and most importantly, the value of your lives is greatest. I would learn years later that the your life is the greatest wealth that you could inherit in life. Another very important lesson that I learned was the importance of our nation's fighting and emergency rescue forces. I do not think there will ever be anything that I could do to truly show our soldiers, armed forces, paramedics, fire fighter and miscellaneous heroes how much they mean to me, because they save our lives from dawn to dusk, day in and day out. But I discovered that there was one thing that I could do for other's, such as you, the person reading this, I could dedicate much of my life to the lives and beauty of our countries. Starting in high school, I began doing intense, community service projects and have kept this trend apart of my present day life. From making visits to children fighting for their lives to saving the lives of our elders and homeless at nursing homes and soup kitchens. On September 11th, a red light blinded my eyes, very soon after I began to see the burning light and have kept this light ignited and will continue to and will pass this light of courage, beauty, generosity and patriotism onto my children.