I was in middle school and I remember my parents sitting on their bed watching the news that morning. We were watching the Breaking News about the first one when the second one hit. This is quite a big deal for my family because my dad worked in New York at this time. Luckily he was home safe and sound with us, but I could tell that he was heartbroken as he watched this happen, because he lost friends that day. We watched in disbelief as they tried to decide if this was a terrorist attack or an accident. It was time for me to go to the bus stop.
When I got to the bus stop I told my friends about it. They thought I was joking. (I joked a lot, but never about things this serious). When we got to school a lot of the TVs were on in the classrooms but the principal, Mr Goldhart, asked the teachers to keep them off. Luckily most of mine did not listen because this was just insane. We continued to watch all day long. And again all night long.
I was confused. Why would anyone want to attack America? What had we done to them? Was this a real attack? Was there going to be a war in our country? I wasn't scared, but I was definitely confused.
I'm not grateful that this happened, but I am grateful for being able to watch this unfold. I am grateful that America came together. I am grateful that I could see the good in people after what had happened. I'm grateful that we fought back and took a stand. I'm grateful to have experiences that I can tell my children about. I am grateful for the post that my friend put on facebook today when she was trying to teach her children about it, "September 11th is a hard thing to explain well to little kids. It's interesting to figure out what we want him to know about that time. Certainly bravery, unity, and preservation of our way of life...here's to passing down sadness apart from hate and fear to the next generation!"
This thought made me think about how I want to teach my children not to hate what happened, or fear what happened, but that it is sad that it happened. And I am still sad that it happened. I think about all the kids who lost their parents. I think about all the wives who lost their husbands. I just can't imagine what they went through and must be living through year after year on this day. I hope they are doing well.
My little sister has such a big heart. She really felt the need to do something for all of these little children. She did a teddy bear drive and collected over 100 teddy bears for these children. With my mom's help, they found out where to send them and sent them to New York. Though it may not have been much, at least those kids know that some people loved them.
I'm grateful that I have had the opportunity to see the twin towers before they went down, and right after they went down. I am grateful to have had the opportunity to go back to New York and see the new memorial that is so amazing.
I will never forget.
No comments:
Post a Comment