Remembering 9/11/01
What can I say about 9/11/01? I have to begin by saying that I am the type of person who tries not to look back and dwell in the past. Looking back on that particular day always strikes me hard with great fear and sadness.
So I try not to look back.
I was in Geometry class when the announcement was made. The principal came on the loudspeaker and told us that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I clearly remember my geometry teacher saying “he’s just kidding!” with a big goofy smile on her face. Later, during lunch, the lights went off as another announcement was made. First one needs to know that Peabody High School is located right near a rock Quarry. So the second announcement was made to tell us that the loud destructive noises we were hearing was not in fact a bomb being launched at us, but a quarry blasting that could not be rescheduled. So much for lunch.
I went home in shock, not knowing what would happen next. All I can remember from those next few weeks is being glad that my father, scheduled to fly to Dallas on the 12th, would not be going anywhere.
Now, on the third year anniversary of the horrendous day, I want to put it all behind me. But I can’t. Not when every day the terror alert is elevated. Not when I read an article titled “Al-Queda reportedly targeting sports events” on the day I attended a Red Sox-Yankee game during the Democratic National Convention in Boston. Being the worrisome person that I am, the idea of another terrorist attack eats at me.
I have realized that 9/11 was the day I first felt fear. Everyone has their worries, and complications, but until that day few people had felt actual fear. I am talking about the kind of fear that can actually make death a tangible idea in the mind of a young person. I felt it that day, and I have felt it many times since. That fear is the impact 9/11 had, and continues to have on me.
So I try not to look back.
I was in Geometry class when the announcement was made. The principal came on the loudspeaker and told us that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I clearly remember my geometry teacher saying “he’s just kidding!” with a big goofy smile on her face. Later, during lunch, the lights went off as another announcement was made. First one needs to know that Peabody High School is located right near a rock Quarry. So the second announcement was made to tell us that the loud destructive noises we were hearing was not in fact a bomb being launched at us, but a quarry blasting that could not be rescheduled. So much for lunch.
I went home in shock, not knowing what would happen next. All I can remember from those next few weeks is being glad that my father, scheduled to fly to Dallas on the 12th, would not be going anywhere.
Now, on the third year anniversary of the horrendous day, I want to put it all behind me. But I can’t. Not when every day the terror alert is elevated. Not when I read an article titled “Al-Queda reportedly targeting sports events” on the day I attended a Red Sox-Yankee game during the Democratic National Convention in Boston. Being the worrisome person that I am, the idea of another terrorist attack eats at me.
I have realized that 9/11 was the day I first felt fear. Everyone has their worries, and complications, but until that day few people had felt actual fear. I am talking about the kind of fear that can actually make death a tangible idea in the mind of a young person. I felt it that day, and I have felt it many times since. That fear is the impact 9/11 had, and continues to have on me.
posted by aseigal at 4:53 PM
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