It's hard to believe that ten years have passed.
I was in college when 9/11 happened. I worked as an RA, and I woke up early and grumpy to do my assigned hours at the front desk in the lobby. There was something on the radio--an attack, something happening in NY--but I flipped it over to a music station.
Another RA came by. "Did you hear about the attack?"
"What attack?" I asked.
We turned the radio back to the news station.
As soon as I could, I ran back to my dorm room and turned on the television. By that point, only one tower had fallen. Before my eyes, I saw the second fall, too.
It was at that moment when I knew things had changed for me forever.
Glimmers of memories stand out from that time. Classes canceled. A friend, whose mother worked in the towers, crying unconsolably. My boss, who was a Muslim and wore a traditional head scarf, afraid to leave her office for a week. A campus-wide meeting, in which we warned, since we were located at the state capital, that we might be next.
But I don't think I really understood how the world had changed until I became a teacher, and started teaching kids who couldn't really remember a world before 9/11.
Isn't it funny how we usually tune out disasters?
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about that a lot today; my children, born after the 9/11 attacks. My daughter is only 5 years old, but has a heart larger than life. When we got up this morning I sat down with her and brought up a picture of the towers before and I told her that bad people took planes and hurt a lot of people. She saw the tears in my eyes and I saw hers well up. She asked if I was sad and I said yes. For her the day will continue like any other, as it will for my 2 year old son. But one day they will ask me what I was doing on that day, and the only response I can give them is "Crying."
ReplyDeleteI remember perfectly this day. I'm from Spain, sho here it was afternoon. It was my mother's Bday. We were eating cake when the TV says that a tower had fallen. Soon came the second, and we saw it live. It's something I'll never forget, and that I was only 6 years...
ReplyDeleteBye!
I was 9.
ReplyDeleteThere were smoky towers on every channel. And no cartoon on Tv.
I didn't understand. And I still can't wrap my mind around it. This is something we can't imagine. this is horror. Not an alien invasion.
I saw it unfold on tv, then I had to go take an exam at school (college), because class wasn't cancelled. I remember stopping at a red light, feeling sick and upset. A man in the car next to me turned and looked at me. We made eye contact for far too long, both understanding each other perfectly.. it's amazing how connected I felt with perfect strangers for a while.
ReplyDeleteWonderful understanding how everyone came to 'hear' about the attacks. I loved the way we were all connected after that day. Wish it would have stayed that way. *sigh*
ReplyDelete(((hugs)))
Being a teacher really does open your eyes, doesn't it? We had a beautiful memorial ceremony at our school today--so powerful!
ReplyDelete