Living in Hawaii, sometimes you forget you are part of the United States since we’re physically not connected to North America and so far away. But nothing makes you feel a stronger sense of patriotism when 9/11 occurred. I was in the fourth grade and I can clearly remember my dad talking on the phone with my grandmother who is not an American citizen but a Japanese citizen calling him with the news about 9/11. Not only had she called everyone in my family who lived in Hawaii she had called family in California, Texas, and Massachusetts. She wanted to make sure everyone was okay. My grandmother advised everyone in my family to turn on the news. I was very sleepy at the time but Fox news blaring from the living room woke me up. I went up stairs to see my dad watching what appeared to look like the Deep Impact movie. My father never kept secrets from me and tried to explain to me what had happen. I sat there in front of the TV trying to comprehend that this was not a movie but really happening. I later went to school that day, learning some classmates had family in New York and were unsure of their family members safety. The following months after 9/11 a sense of patriotism I had never seen before in Hawaii started to emerge. Everyone in Hawaii began making efforts to send the “Aloha” spirit to the victims and their families of 9/11.