Saturday, September 11, 2010

Remembering 9 Years Ago...

It has crept up on me again this year.  With the business of the beginning of the school year, it's hard to think of anything beyond the classroom walls.  But last Monday, I turned around and there it was, staring at me from the end of the week.  I haven't thought about it a whole lot over the last couple days...just brief snippets of memories and emotions invading my head every so often.  I tried to push them aside so I could answer a question about the math lesson or settle a squabble between two students. 

But now it's Saturday, September 11, 2010.  I don't have to go to school today and while there are things around me here at home that could distract me, I know they won't.  Even if I want to be distracted.  Because what happened nine years ago today had such a huge impact on my life I can't ignore it.  It represents a major dividing line:  a line separating the young, naive me and the more aware, less jaded me.  It destroyed a lot, but it created a lot, too.  It destroyed the old world, the world where things happening outside my own circle of family and friends didn't really matter or have much bearing on my life.  It created a new awareness and a new appreciation for our country and the things that happen outside of our country's borders.

Nine years ago, I couldn't fully understand what was happening.  The images on T.V. looked like something from a movie, not something that was really going on in New York and in D.C. (just 15 miles north of where I lived).  It was a scary day--do you remember?  I remember every detail of that day:  from the moment a girl entered our classroom at school saying something had happened in New York to coming home and seeing those videos for the first time.  I remember lying in bed that night, not able to sleep--not wanting to sleep--worried that something else would happen in the middle of the night.  Do you remember the next day when you woke up not knowing if it was really over or if there was more to come?  I didn't know what to do other than watch news all day.  What can you do on a day like that?

Now, nine years later, I still cry and still think about each moment of that day.  I remember my own emotions, I remember the emotions of people on T.V., I remember the patriotism and unity that followed.  And I hope and pray--so fervently--that this day is not forgotten.

[from http://casualhardcore.wordpress.com/2009/09/11/9-11/]

2 comments:

  1. Before you turn around, it will be 20 years afterward and you'll wonder where the time went. Well, NOW is where it went. By the time we reach 20 years, I hope this terrorist issue will have been resolved.

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  2. So beautiful, Mdith, your words captured so much of the emotions I think alot of people feel on 9/11. Though the sun shined all day yesterday, I felt as though something was coming, like it was going to storm all day. It's how I've felt every 9/11 since that day.

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