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| Photo via GeekPhilosopher |
On this, the ninth anniversary of the September 11 attacks on the Pentagon and World Trade Center, I thought it fitting for me to take a moment to share with you my memories of that time.
Like with any life-altering event, I remember so much about when I found out about the attacks. I was a sophomore in high school and was at cheerleading practice. I remember what I was wearing that day to practice, yellow tank top and purple Soffe shorts.
A history teacher that was friend with my coach came in to tell us that we might want to come in her classroom to watch her TV--"someone has bombed the World Trade Center," she told us. We quickly grabbed our bags and went down the hall to her classroom and her class had moved their desks to make room for us to sit on the floor.
We sat watching the live reports, news channels were still scrambling to figure out what was going on and that's when we saw the second plane hit. I remember my absolute disbelief that this was actually happening, could feel the collective shock rise in every body in that room. We were just stunned. Was this an accident? If it wasn't, why was this happening?
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| Photo via GeekPhilosopher |
The administration at my school eventually asked the teachers to turn off the televisions and carry on with the day. But that was all anyone could talk about and I know more than one of my teachers that day ignored the request.
Later that day, I remember sitting on the phone with my dad, who lived out-of-state at the time, watching news reports together, crying, speculating. The news reports on the television and Internet consumed me.
It was so encouraging to see the way the nation came together in the days and months following this senseless attack. I remember seeing people wearing t-shirts, hats, pins, etc. to show their patriotism. We had a ceremony at my school later that week to memorialize the day and the lives lost. My cheer squad, the dance company, the drill team and the band choreographed our homecoming halftime performance to patriotic music and brought a giant flag out on to the field.
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| Picture of the halftime performance |
What do you remember of that day? Where we you? Share your story.
2 comments:
I wish I would've seen this post on Saturday. All day I thought about what happened 9 years ago and wanted some way to identify with others about it without sounding like I couldn't move on. There were family parties and important football games that occupied us all day. On the way home from Jessica's house though, I asked David, "When do you think we'll stop remembering? At one point, I'm sure December 7th was like this for the people that were alive when Pearl Harbor was attacked, but now it's just a date on the calendar. Do you think September 11th will become like that?" And he said yes. That as our generation gets older and the younger is full of people that CAN'T remember that day, the day in general will move into the background. I hope I die before that happens. I hope we always remember. I hope I never forget walking into 1st period--Honors Chemistry with Mr. Iucker--and hearing the news. I hope I never forget how sad I was while simultaneously being so proud to be an American. Sorry, this is way too long. But thanks for your post.
Glad I wasn't alone in remembering. Unfortunately, I agree with David; people are going to forget. They already are. This is partly why I decided to put my memory down in "words"--I want to always remember.
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