How 9/11 Bombing Afeected on my Life

Many people believe that the past is the past and we have no connection to history. However, many historical events affect our lives daily whether we realize it or not. History can also help us determine who we are based on our ancestors and their experiences. The 9/11 bombing is an event that has personally affected my life.

        On September 11, 2001, around 9 A.M. Eastern time, was the beginning of 4 airplane crashes planned by al Qaeda. Two of the planes took down the World Trade Centers. Another plane was sent to the Pentagon, and one was prevented from attacking by brave passengers. This was the first aerial attack in 60 years. Around 3,000 Americans died and many were injured.

        While this chaos was going on my mother was in labor with me. You can imagine the thoughts running through her head as she was giving birth to her first child in San Antonio, Texas on a base that was on lock down. My grandfather and uncle almost got locked out because of this. However, she pushed through and I was born a little less than 12 hours after the bombings first started.

        When I was younger I did not know the significance of my birthday day, to me it was just the day I was born. However, as I grew older, and we began to go over the bombing in school and I began to realize its significance. I was not the only one who noticed that I was born on a tragic day.

The first time I can remember being ridiculed for this part of me I could not control is when I was in the fourth grade and was told that I was cursed because of the day I was born on. From that day on I noticed the look on people's faces and the way they react to the knowledge of when I was born. It's almost as if I am given pity or expected not to be excited because of  this.

Even worse was when the terrorist baby or terrorist jokes began as people grew older and understood the event even more.  I began to feel shame and when my birthday came around I would just keep my head down and hide. As I've grown older I've learned to ignore people's looks, reactions, and jokes.

While that has greatly impacted my life more than anybody can imagine the 9/11 bombing has also affected me in other ways. As I have gotten older I've faced times when I have to fly on a plane to places. It seems simple, but not when you have aviophobia, or the fear of flying. This fear is triggered not only when I get on a plane but also when I think about getting on a plane, or even when I see pictures of planes. I get very anxious and question every little thing that happens, whether it is normal or not, and fear starts to overtake my mind.  The 9/11 bombing has intensified my fear because you never know when that could happen to you, and it only happened 17 years ago.

The 9/11 bombing has greatly affected my personal life. Growing up it has affected my emotional connection to my birthday negatively. It has also increased my fear of flying which causes me great distress. I never thought that history could affect my life now. However, it is obvious that no matter who you are, how it affects you or in what aspect of your life it affects, history will affect you. Just like the September 11, 2001 bombing has affected me.

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