I always make a little memorial collage for September 11, and here's the one I made for the two-decade mark. Hard to believe it's been that long and what's come about since that day.
Of course, I can recall precious few details anymore...but I can tell you where I was, how I first heard about it, and how I felt.
I was 13, on my way to school with my dad, and Dad often liked to listen to the news on the radio. I preferred music myself, but anyway, it was through the radio that both he and I first heard the big bad news. The reporter's voice was extremely quivery, like he was struggling (and failing) not to cry. Being just a kid, I was naturally stunned to hear about four plane crashes in one day but I didn't give it too much thought at the time. I have no way of knowing how Dad felt but he didn't say much; he just dropped me off at the main entrance and drove off to work like usual.
At school, said crashes were pretty much all everybody talked about, students and teachers alike. Even my strict teachers were pretty subdued and schoolwork was lighter than normal. We didn't even have homework, which would have been a kid's dream come true under normal circumstances.
During a quick trip to the library, I caught a glimpse of the story on TV and I was taken a little aback at the terrible footage. That's when I thought, "Wow, this must be more serious than I thought."
When I got home, Mom had the TV on (this was back in the days when we had cable) and you guessed it: it was on the news channel and it was the only story they talked about all evening.
That was when it finally hit me how bad this really was.
The next few weeks were a nightmare, a real melting pot of sadness, confusion, and fear. I broke down crying more than once, but everybody who saw me was nothing but sympathetic.
To this day, I still have a hard time stomaching that footage. It still goes to my heart to imagine what that must have been like for everyone. I was fortunate enough not to lose anyone in those attacks, but I was plenty affected in my own way.
The worst part of it all is that it was no accident. Terrorists really do live up to the word "terror" in their name.
And so here we are, two decades later, and I repeat the question in the image: what has changed since?
No comments:
Post a Comment