Where were you when it happened? [July 20th - September 11th]

Mom told me more than once that when I reached 10 I would stop being a child and become a teenager.

I dreamed about it, I wanted to become an adult and for that, I had to leave childhood and go through the stage of adolescence.

Mom also told me that when I turned 10 years old, I would acquire new responsibilities for being a young man and that I should help take care of my siblings and be aware of anything abnormal in the house.

That filled me with excitement, being a young man, and having responsibilities, was the ultimate for me and that is why I wanted my birthday to come, one for the reason already expressed and another for the celebration; cakes, candies, ice cream, friends, sodas.

The day arrived and I was impatient, I had already been congratulated by my parents, siblings, and other relatives, but the good part would come in the late afternoon or evening of July 20, 1969, the day I would celebrate 10 years since I was born.

The party went under the table, practically because all the attention was being taken away from the TV with the Eagle landing on the surface of the moon.

_{WikiImages / Pixabay}

Dad, knew how to do it, he had them sing my birthday in front of the TV, we ate the cake and candy glued to the screen, but the tastiest or what I liked the most was when Dad said:

-This birthday of yours is and will be a historical date, it will always be remembered and God has given you this birthday gift.

Those words along with the event stuck with me and so when he asks me:

Where were you on July 20, 1969?

I respond with pride:

Turned my wonderful 10 years old and watched Neil Armstrong and buzz aldrin walk on the moon.

The day had come to deliver a zero-kilometer vehicle to the winner of the contest for the purchase of our products.

I was working with a logging group and that day it was advertised to find out who the cattle in the brand new vehicle were.

I was the operations manager of the business group and I had dedicated myself to making sure that day would be remembered by everyone because it was our first contest and because sales for that date had broken records.

By 06:00 am we had set up a TV at the entrance of the huge shed where we had our sales offices plus samples of the merchandise.

We had also decorated the place as if it were a party and behind the sales girls we placed a huge screen to show the moment of the announcement of the winner and the handing over of the car keys.

We opened the store and there were already customers waiting for the opening, everything promised to be a wonderful, splendid day, full of joy for our customers and for all the staff.

Then suddenly my assistant tells me to put the news on the screen, which is attacking the most powerful country on earth; the United States.

An unidentified plane had crashed into one of New York's twin towers and the scenes were Dantesque, but that was not enough, another plane crashed into the other tower.

The shuddering scream of all of us who were present in the place was overwhelming and frightening, fear ran through the being of each one of us.

Some women burst into tears, others said that the third world war was starting, and there was a lot of uncertainty because nobody knew anything, not even those who were transmitting the news.

The business event was immediately suspended, the faces were of sadness and fearful and I am talking about people who were in a city in the interior of Venezuela; I do not want to imagine what those who were in the capital of the world, New York, felt.

_{Ronile / Pixabay}

That day marked many and I was no exception. I remember that day as something tragic personally, for days I was sad and I even felt afraid.

When he asks me:

Where were you on the morning of September 11, 2001?

My answer is:

I was watching criminal minds attacking innocent and defenseless beings, all because of an absurd way of thinking.

Two days, two historical events that marked my life; one of joy and the other of profound sadness.