My Life: Hold on Tight and Fight No Matter How Hard Things Are

As I followed the other firefighters, captain said, "No Kennedy, you have to stay here." At first, I was enraged at him for saying that to me, but if he didn't make me stay, I would've died that day. All 87 of the NYFD firefighters went inside that building, and never came out. Who would be so cruel to do this, I thought. Suddenly, the news reporters stated, "4 planes have been hijacked by Arabs, and they have been planning to crash them into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and The White House.

That day when I returned home from school, my mom’s boyfriend called me asking to speak to my grandmother. Typically, Gus would call my grandmother himself if he wanted to speak with her, which was rare. I found out about my mom going to the hospital from my grandmother after that phone call. The doctor told my family that a stroke afflicted her in the middle of the day. My mom confused the date with her birthday, had trouble getting words out and remembering our family member’s names. The nurse had to take her for walks periodically and exercise her legs and arms because they were weak. Seeing my mother in this condition made me appreciate my mother and everything she does for me tremendously. However, I was terrified for my mother’s health.

I went to my living room to ask my mom a question, to see she wasn’t there. I asked my brother “where’s mom?” and he replied with “shes at the hospital, grandpa got burnt.” I would never have expected “grandpa got burnt” to be as severe as it was. I remember my mom coming home around two in the morning. I got up and out of bed to ask some questions. She said “I don’t wanna talk about it right now. Pack some stuff up, we’re going to Waterloo tomorrow.” So I listened and packed up a bag.

And then, the day I had feared of most, finally arrived. We lost our father, the only figure I truly felt safe with. After months of mourning and painful transformations, our mother fell sick. In those terrible days, days during which I was locked in the basement most of the time, for my safety and even more: for the safety of my family, I was incapable of helping. To this, I regret even today.

I wake up in the morning in my apartment in LA. I turn on the TV and I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears. I was watching live cable news and there was a lot of coverage. I saw that the plane crash into the twin towers. I was frozen and tried to catch each word from the news broadcaster. It felt like a movie, it was unbelievable and unrealistic. They showed a lot of smoke coming from the buildings. It was very chaotic when they shot it up close there were people calling for help, screams,

I saw papa sitting quietly on a box, and mama was standing talking to Roberto in the corner. I could tell he and mama were very sad. I opened the door to leave and then took a long walk. The sun was nowhere in sight dark clouds rolled in like ocean waves. I was sad and mad about the move. I thought about all the things my teacher Mr. Lema taught me.

Sometime, after a while, we came to a stop. We were in the railway car for about twenty-four hours. My legs were stiff from standing, but I wasn’t tired anymore. Luckily, I was able to fall asleep while standing. Daddy was right, I was able to rest. Others were not as fortunate as myself. My mother and siblings looked very tired. I looked to my mother, her face was overtaken by exhaustion, and her eyes were still red and puffy. I didn’t know my mother to be emotional, but right now that was all she

I got the call. My father told me the news. It is insane how many things are taken for granted. We make plans for the day, and don't think about how those plans could possibly be taken in the blink of an eye. I never thought much about it myself, until being faced with undeniable truth. I honestly don’t believe people think about tragedy until faced with shocking news.

This morning was the first time in my life that I couldn’t shake my nightmares with a bit of fresh air. I tried telling myself that the thrill of soldiering was wearing off, and the unpleasant memories of combat were surfacing, but it didn’t calm me. Lying in bed, I looked at the ceiling and wanted to get high. I wanted to drink. I felt if I downed enough beer, I could obliterate the darkness of my combat experience. As I slid out of bed, I began to sweat. Next I had the chills. I told myself that I better to get it together before my Aunt Claudia and Uncle Galway visited today.

Tuesday, September 11, 2001, was an unusually sunny days for the early fall. After I walked my kids to school, I came back and I called Comcast because they had raised my bill. I turned on the news, and hung up with Comcast right away. A plane had hit the North World Trade Center. I couldn't keep my eyes off the news, and then a plane hit the South World Trade Center, and then the Pentagon, and then a plane crashed into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. I couldn’t believe what was happening. When I saw the first crash, I thought it was a mistake; and then it happened three more times. The passengers and flight attendants on Flight 93 are some of the bravest people out there. After I saw everything I didn’t know what do, except cry. At about 11 am, I went into my bedroom and told my husband, “You’re never going to believe what’s happening in this world: two planes crashed into both of the World Trade Centers and everything is on fire.” Fortunately, I did not know anyone who had their life taken away in this horrible event, but my brother-in-law, was in Boston, and was supposed to fly back home, leaving from Logan International Airport. Since all United States airports and flight had been grounded, the best he could do was rent a rental car and drive back to Crozet, Virginia. For the second time that I

It made me feel many emotions. Grief, anger, joy. Grief for the lost. Anger for the murders. And joy for when its over.

He keep me warm through the night and he would always let me have the wool blanket. But one night, Aedan really didn’t feel well, he was crying and holding his stomach. It was the first time I saw him cried, he always used to be this tough boy where noting could hurt him. In panic, I started searching the whole boat in hope of finding a doctor. It took such a long time, but I finally managed to find one. When the doctor looked at the pain that my brother suffered, he was already able to tell that those were the symptoms of a disease name typhus. The doctor even told Aedan that his friends had also that disease and it’s probably from there that he caught it. That night was probably the most painful night of my life. My father told me that for safety measures he would sleep with his son and I would have to sleep with mom instead. I didn’t mind sleeping with mom, but I had this feeling that she couldn't breathe, it felt as if someone was choking her. I also felt her heart pounding into her chest as I cuddled into her arms. That’s when she told me that my brother didn’t have much time left to survive. I started sobbing into my mothers’

“Peter! Peter! What are you doing? Peter, what’s wrong?” This is what I remember hearing when I came to the next day, the words spoken in my mother’s voice and coming in between sobs while Daisy was barking ferociously. When my vision came back, I saw my terrified mother curled up and hugging the leg of our kitchen table, tears streaming down her imbued eyes. Daisy was closest to me, stationed between me and my mother, her teeth bared and snapping at me like a shark.

“I never saw my father in person” my mother recalls. To see the sadness in her eyes only placed me in a position I have never thought of before; that I, too, have never met my grandfather. According to my grandmother, he died from a heart attack.

Late night phone calls never end well, and this one was no exception. My mom answered the shrill ring of the landline early one Wednesday morning and was greeted by her sisters solemn voice. Aunt Mary told her that their mother wasn’t able to swallow food anymore; an obvious problem that had all the more meaning to her. Barely a month before, grandma’s sister, my Great Aunt Maureen, after a long period of declining health, quickly passed away after loosing her ability to swallow. It seemed that grandma would follow her sister’s example. Mom hung up the phone, the weight of the world settling around her shoulders, and booked a flight for the small Irish town she grew up in.