Immortal memory

I woke up at 10 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001. Within minutes, my life would change forever. \n During numerous conversations the preceding week, my father had mentioned how excited he was for his two-day business trip to New York, during which he would be working in the infamous World Trade Center. I anticipated that he would tell my family about his experience, after flying home, on the night of that fated Tuesday. \nBut he did not fly home that night. \nSeconds after turning on CNN and watching the planes fly into the towers, I lost control of myself. I desperately wanted to wake up from this nightmare, and I subconsciously thought I could do that by screaming, crying and throwing random objects. I was scared and worried for my dad, but there was no instant way to find out about the status of his safety. I was in shock, but I kept telling myself to calm down. He might have made it out the building safely, being his typical, strong-willed self. \n For days, my mom and I called missing persons hotlines and NYC area hospitals, trying to find out about my dad. Those resources did not prove helpful for us. \n However, my dad's company had given us word that he was alive upon leaving the building; he had been put onto a safe list. My spirits soared. I knew that my dad would find his way out of the building! \nUnfortunately, we found out that the list was bogus. Because of all the confusion after the attack, his name had been mistakenly mixed with the people presumed safe. We now knew the truth; he was on the list of people who had been on the 100th floor of WTC Tower 1, where the first plane hit.\nI was angry. I refused to believe it. It hurt to have my relief for my dad ripped away so quickly. My mom told me to hold onto my faith. But as time went on, our positivity began to wane.\n We no longer hold out any hope of finding my dad. \n Because of the difficulty of this whole situation, I chose to withdraw from the fall semester at IU. I will return in January to continue my education; being with family is more important to me right now. \nMy family and I made a trip out to NYC during the week of September 23. We visited Ground Zero and attended the memorial service at St. Patrick's Cathedral for the dead and missing colleagues of my dad's company, Marsh & McLennan. New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani spoke at the memorial, which I found touching. \nThe people in my community of Cleveland, Ohio, have shown tremendous support throughout this ordeal. It has comforted my mom a great deal. The way people pull together during tragic times is beautiful. \nI just want everyone reading this to know how real this is. I never would have guessed that anything like this could happen to my dad, and I assume that not many of you would expect to wake up to such shocking news about any of your loved ones. We live in a scary, tentative world, which is why you should never prolong telling the special people in your life that they are important, and that you cherish them. I am thankful that I always told my dad that I love him, and grateful that he showed me how much he believed in me. \nHe is not with me physically, but his faith in me gives me strength to go on with life, for him, as well as myself. \nMy dad did little for himself while he was on Earth, most of his energy was directed toward enriching the lives of family members and the people in my community. It was easy to like my dad. He was always joking around, helping people and finding simple solutions to life's complexities. His selfless actions remain with us, and his memory is immortal.