9/11/11

Where I was



Ten years ago today, I was a fourth grader living in Wallingford, Connecticut. Our school had made a decision to not tell us what was going on, because we were so close to New York and the majority of us had parents who worked in the city. They canceled the book fair, and we were all so upset and confused. We got out early, and I heard a third grader tell the principal it was so sad what had happened with those towers. I had no idea until I got home what was going on, I just had clues. The sky was incredibly dark and smoky, something had happened to towers, they were canceling the book fair, and we got out early.
When I got home, Mom sat me down and explained what had happened. I think she told me something like a small country had tried to attack us, because that’s what I have written in my journal. I remember being so scared, along with the rest of my town, that we might be next. The not knowing was the worst.
My brother was in first grade, so I wasn’t allowed to tell him what had happened yet. Mom was going to wait until Dad got home from work. He was playing outside, and all of a sudden came in sobbing because one of the older boys had told him and he didn’t understand. There was a huge church service that night, but we weren’t allowed to go.  I stayed glued to the news coverage, until my mom finally dragged me away to go for a walk.
The next few weeks, class was pretty empty. My family didn’t personally know anyone who died, but there were tons of kids in my school and classes who did. I think it was probably three weeks later before we had the whole class there again. The day after, our teacher sat us down and talked to us about what we knew and who in our class had known someone personally. I think we were all a little too young to fully grasp what had happened, what death and terrorism are. We just wanted our city to be okay again.
I say our city like I grew up there, but like I started out with, I didn’t. However, Connecticut is a really small state. You could get from one side to the other in an hour, and to New York within an hour and a half, so we were all there constantly. I had been on the Empire State Building tons of times, being taught about the Twin Towers and World Trade Center. It was like our own backyard.



It’s crazy to see how much everything has changed in ten years, because in more ways than one I still feel like that little girl glued to the news coverage on TV, trying to learn as much as possible.
We moved to Texas that summer. On the one year anniversary, everyone at my new Texas school wore patriotic shirts in remembrance. I remember being so in awe of the fact that even people who were thousands of miles away from what had happened were so supportive. That was the first time I saw how united our country really is.
With prayers and remembrance, for those who lost their lives, those who risked their lives, and those who survived.

1 comment:

Mary and Dyer said...

Amen. Thanks for posting this. It is important to always remember those who were lost and how united we truly are as a country. xox