Ten Years Ago...
At the time of the 9/11 attacks, I was 11 years old. I was in sixth grade, and it was still the beginning of the school year. As a minor thing, I remember that was the year/summer that I started getting periods, and I happened to get mine that day. So I was zapped of energy when I went to school that day.
It was during the first class of the day when someone came into the class, and handed my teacher Mrs. Swanson a paper announcement. After she got that paper, she turned on the TV so we could watch the news. That lesson was effectively shut down as we watched what was happening on screen. Even when the class was supposed to end and change to second period, we had to stay in our classrooms until we were allowed to change. I remember that Mrs. Swanson pointed out how 9/11 was 911 during that time. As we walked the halls, we were all in a state of stunned silence.
The time after that felt very unreal, watching the news every night to see the smoking rubble. There was a huge surge of patriotism too- I remember having a few American flag shirts then, and wearing them to school. In general, it just seemed so important to wear red, white and blue (Now I hardly have any red shirts because it's my least favorite color, and I don't have any American flag shirts because they're tacky). There were also patriotic songs, and the new fall TV shows all delayed their premieres out of respect.
But slowly we did recover and get on with our normal routines, while still watching the news to see the progress. I remember on one field trip to New York, the bus passed by Ground Zero, and we all looked over the fence at the empty gap beyond.
Every year there was a moment of silence at school. Now that I'm out in California, it's harder to respect that moment of silence because of the time difference. I would like to watch all the news coverage of 9/11, but that would mean waking up early. But I suppose in my own way, I will always respect the people who passed on that day.
It was during the first class of the day when someone came into the class, and handed my teacher Mrs. Swanson a paper announcement. After she got that paper, she turned on the TV so we could watch the news. That lesson was effectively shut down as we watched what was happening on screen. Even when the class was supposed to end and change to second period, we had to stay in our classrooms until we were allowed to change. I remember that Mrs. Swanson pointed out how 9/11 was 911 during that time. As we walked the halls, we were all in a state of stunned silence.
The time after that felt very unreal, watching the news every night to see the smoking rubble. There was a huge surge of patriotism too- I remember having a few American flag shirts then, and wearing them to school. In general, it just seemed so important to wear red, white and blue (Now I hardly have any red shirts because it's my least favorite color, and I don't have any American flag shirts because they're tacky). There were also patriotic songs, and the new fall TV shows all delayed their premieres out of respect.
But slowly we did recover and get on with our normal routines, while still watching the news to see the progress. I remember on one field trip to New York, the bus passed by Ground Zero, and we all looked over the fence at the empty gap beyond.
Every year there was a moment of silence at school. Now that I'm out in California, it's harder to respect that moment of silence because of the time difference. I would like to watch all the news coverage of 9/11, but that would mean waking up early. But I suppose in my own way, I will always respect the people who passed on that day.