9/11/2001
I sit on my parent’s bed as my Dad gets ready for the day. I do this often. Daddy has the news on. I look at the TV. Suddenly, they show a video of a plane going into a big, tall building like the one that Daddy works in. Why would someone do that?
“Daddy! Look! A plane went into a big building!”I exclaim.
My dad looks at the TV for a second, uncomprehending. Then, he rushes out of the bedroom to where my mom is beginning to teach my older sister.
My dad’s reaction confuses me. Why would he act so panicked, confused, and scared? Why is it such an emergency that he immediately needed to tell my mother?
It wasn’t anything special- it was just another one of those scary news stories. Someone just accidentally flew into a building.
As the day goes on, I come to realize that it really is something terrible and frightening. My parents keep the news on all day. I’m having more trouble than usual focusing on my schoolwork. I watch as more planes go down. I watch as everything lights on fire and smoke billows around. My parents are acting very scared. This confuses me so much. My parents are big and strong. Why does this scare them so much?
(I remember working on this one specific handwriting book. I was on the letter G. There was pictures of things that started with that letter- like grapes.)
That night I have synchronized ice skating practice. I want to wear my grey Old Navy shirt that has the American flag on it. My older sister Christina says I shouldn’t wear it since it goes against the dress code. My other older sister Stephanie says I should still wear it.
(I remember that we were sitting at the dining room table. I was in the chair to the right of where my dad usually sits. I don’t remember if I ended up wearing the shirt or not. I probably did wear it.)
9/12/2001
Today my daddy goes to work. I am very scared for him. I now know that there are some very bad people that wanted the planes to go down- it was intentional. I know that none of the planes were very close to where I live but I know that Daddy works in a big city in a tall building on a very high up floor.
(I didn’t understand that the buildings that were hit were important buildings so I was also scared a plane would go into our house xP)
The news paper we receive today is bigger than usual. It contains all sorts of stuff about what happened the day before. It also has a CD-ROM with stuff about the attacks. On the front page, it has a picture of the collapsing Twin Towers. I feel very sad.
I am scared all day. When Daddy gets home, I am very happy that he is fine.
9/20/2001
I hear on the news about anthrax being in people’s mail. I don’t know what that is, but I hear how scared people are about it. I hear that people can die from it. Each day when Mom opens the mail, I get scared.
(I’m not sure that I’ve ever felt as American and patriotic in my life as during the aftermath of all this.)
9/11/2002
I am one year older. I understand better about bin Ladin, terrorism, and the attacks. Mom turns the TV on. The relatives of the people that died are reading the names of the people that died. It goes on for a long time.
I love America. I still have trouble comprehending that people would hate it so much that they’d kill thousands of people, including themselves.
(To this day, the memory of all this makes me cry.)
9/11/2010
It’s been nine years. I’m now in high school. I’ve studied about terrorism. I’ve heard stories about the people that were in the Towers, Pentagon, Flight 93, and all of the planes. I’ve heard about the politics and the conspiracy theories.
I’ve heard people talk about how it was President Bush’s fault and stuff like that. But still I cannot forget how it felt to be six years old and see those buildings collapse. Today my little sister Emily watched a documentary on the attacks. Things are so different for her. She was alive then but since she was a baby she has no memory of it. I sat with her for a little bit as she watched the documentary. I was tearing up, but she wasn’t. She feels the same disconnect that I do when I read about Pearl Harbor- it was relatively recent, and I feel sad, but not in the same, sorrowful way I do about 9/11.
She seems so young to me, but I was even younger when it happened. It feels very weird that’s she’s able to hear about it and understand but not cry.
I will never forget the terror I felt on that day.
(If I do, then life won’t be worth living anymore.)
Will you forget?
