I remember where I was nine years ago, do you? I remember it like it was yesterday, and the memory is still fresh inside my mind. The thoughts, the emotions - although I was young (but still old enough to know something drastic was happening,) I remember the attacks having an impact on mine.
At the time, I was only in sixth grade. I was sitting in my English classroom, but we were not learning anything at the time. It was early in the morning, the class was sitting around, talking, and preparing to begin the day’s lesson. My teacher received a phone call from another instructor in the building, and I remember millions of questions being thrown around. I could hear her voice breaking and uncertainty and concern overwhelmed her. The class sat in silence - we were all wondering what was going on. Almost half an hour later, our teacher told us the news, told us people were hurt, that towers were coming down, and that something was very wrong. She told us not to worry, but most importantly, she told us to keep the information to ourselves so we would not upset any other students. Being so young, we did not listen to her. We told others that planes had crashed into the World Trade Center, but not that many people even knew what the towers were to begin with.
I remember coming home, seeing airplanes flying through the sky, and being absolutely terrified of each and every one that I saw. I lived close to an airport, so the planes were flying in and out. I remember there eventually being restrictions on flights, and then it became incredibly real how much damage was being done. I am not sure if I was aware how horrible the situation was, but I remember being scared, sad, and confused as to why this was all happening.
Nine years later… I still feel the same. The thoughts are still there. I cannot believe that nine years has passed and we still not have caught the man responsible. It feels like one giant game of hide and seek, and we are letting the bad ones win.
