The years have come and gone. New buildings have taken the place of the old. People still fly across the country, albeit with more scans and body checks. Children have grown up. Life goes on. And yet……the memories of that horrible day, mixed with heroism, and the ultimate sacrifice of so many, remains. Although no longer as visible, there is a ragged scar, left on this country’s memory. It is a reminder of that fateful day, fifteen years ago. The day that so much changed….
A DIFFERENT WORLD
The day was normal. Just like any other. Elementary school children chattering with each other. My teaching assistant and I were working with our reading groups on that Tuesday morning. A sunny day, nothing out of the ordinary…and then a fellow teacher popped into my classroom to tell me to go and watch theTV in the school conference room. I excused myself, leaving my kiddos with my assistant for a minute.
I stared at the television, not comprehending what I was looking at. The plane, the World Trade Center, the fire and smoke. People everywhere. The second plane hitting the building. News anchors eerily silent as, even they, had no words for what they were seeing. Chills ran across me as I stared in disbelief.
I numbly walked back to my classroom. Knowing that life was different now.
I told my assistant to go to the conference room.
I looked at the faces of all my young students and realized that life as we knew it would never be the same. These children would grow up in a different world than I had.
And it made me so sad.
September 11, 2001 — We Remember
It Just Dawned On Me 