Today is the eleventh anniversary of the Twin Towers attacks, along with the Pentagon. So many lives were lost, so many families never to hear from their families again, never to see their smile, hear their laughter. It was definitely a dark day in American history.
I remember being at home when my stepdad came out, shocked, and told my mom to switch it to CNN. I was only nine, all I knew was CNN was a very boring channel that he loved my mom checking out. I was leaning against our couch, putting my shoes on getting ready for school, when I saw it. My younger sister saw it. We all saw it, the replays of the towers (both, since I am on the west coast, and it was about seven am).
I don't remember everyone else's reaction, but I was in shock. Several things went through my nine-year-old head. First of all, I've been on a plane (definitely not a 747 but I knew a lot of people were on those planes), so I knew they were hurt. I don't recall if I knew to what extent how badly hurt (or dead). Second thought was the terror of planes. To this day I haven't been in a plane since I was seven or eight. Other thoughts went through it, but those two definitely were the most important.
I don't remember going to school that day, the entire memory of Sept. 11, 2001 was in my living room, just in shock. We left CNN on for the rest of the week. I remember listening to my stepdad and mom's dinner conversations one night and they were discussing how the president (Bush Jr.) declared war on Iraq. Those dinners were so frustrating when I got older: I was a Democrat daughter to two Republicans. But at nine years old, I just knew the very core of what war was: a huge fight. So my mind translated it as: "They punched us, we're going to punch back."
A year had passed, and being ten, I thought "9-11, 9-1-1. What the heck, did the terrorists mean for that?" I was ten and knew what 'terrorist' was. At ten, I knew who al-Qaeda was, and I knew who Osama Bin Laden was. At ten, I knew the entire song to "God Bless America," because for the first year, every Friday morning my elementary school went to the flag, said the Pledge of Allegiance, and then sung God Bless America.
At nine, I went through American history. It was definitely my generation's JFK assassination. I will tell my children and grandchildren of my memories. Even Joshua's younger brother, who was born in 2000, only knows the core details. I remember us asking him, and it took him a second, but he said "Planes hit the Twin Towers." I was always curious if the next generation would be taught of 9-11, since it was a very recent historical event, and how early they would be taught. I know all schools do a memorial event, a "moment of silence," type of deal, but I wondered if it would be like JFK, where I didn't know anything about him until middle school. In elementary school, the worst thing we learn of in American history is Martin Luther King Jr. being killed. But we didn't know fully as to why he died. We didn't know it was due to racism and him being radically different for his era.
Almost 3,000 people died that September day. Those 3,000 people's families had to endure the sadness when they didn't get the phone call saying that their loved ones were okay. Those families had to endure a fragile hope of their loved ones just being lost in the chaos. Those families' hopes were shattered when they got a call about their loved ones, but it wasn't a joyful call. I will never forget September 11th, 2001.
No comments:
Post a Comment