I'm thinking a lot of 9/11 lately. First of all, the 10th anniversary is buzzing around everywhere. Second, the boys are old enough to have heard about the twin towers falling and wanting to know why. Third, DR's birthday is on 9/11. He turned 25 that day. Needless to say celebrating his birthday since I've known him has never been fun.
I heard Alan Jackson's Where Were You When The World Stop Turning the other day.
That song makes me cry to this day.
"Where were you when the world stop turning? Teaching a class full of innocent children."
"Did you call up your mother, tell her you loved her?"
When the towers were hit, I was in a classroom of 6th graders taking ISTEP testing. It was a Tuesday. All the tv's were off. My next door teacher tiptoed in and told me the news after his wife had called him. I thought he was joking. Because we were in testing I couldn't turn on the tv or even talk about it for over an hour. I remember exactly what I was wearing that day; a khaki skirt and a denim 3/4 sleeve shirt over a red sleeveless sweater. I remember leaning against a counter in a daze watching over the heads of these innocent kids who, at the moment, had no idea what was going on.
Later, of course, when classes resumed (6th, 7th and 8th graders) all the teachers had their tv's on and nothing was getting done that day. By noon though, my building principal had told all teachers to turn off the tvs which simply infuriated all of the history teachers. Rightly so. She, our principal, insisted that the tragedy was something the kids could talk to their parents about when they got home.
I was so mad. I was at whoever hit the towers and planes, because at the time no one knew, and I simply couldn't believe that our principal was going to let these kids go into an emotional overload during the afternoon without having any facts before they got home, instead rumors ran rampant through the afternoon about "who done it". Life would have been much simpler that afternoon if we had all watched tv.
I watched a bit of tv during my lunch hour and that made me a wreck for the rest of the afternoon.
Finally school was over and I made it home and turned on tv. I could barely believe the footage I was seeing. I cried and cried. I called my mom, of course, who was two hours away from me. She said, "Well now that you've called I've heard from all my kids." I remember ranting and crying to my mom over the phone. "How could anyone do such a thing?", I cried over and over and over. It just didn't make sense....it still doesn't. She just let me talk to her and we prayed together.
Looking back now, I wonder how was my mom feeling? Was she torn and crying inside or out? I never asked. I just called her immediately knowing she'd comfort me in any way she could. Mom was the only person I even imagined calling that day. Moms gain great courage and strength when their kids are in trouble don't they? Even emotional trouble. At the time I was an emotional wreck but if the same kind of event happened today I could totally see myself bucking back the tears and anger to watch over my kids.
I don't know what we are going to do on 9/11 this year. If the boys want to talk about it we will. I'm not going to watch the news though. I saw enough of it 10 years ago. We probably won't celebrate DR's 35th birthday either. It's harvest so he'll probably be working.
Where were you on 9/11/2001? What are your plans for 9/11/2011?
I was in college then. I first heard about it on the transit home from my early chemistry lab. The bus driver was talking about it, but I brushed it off because he was a little crazy. Then, as I was walking back to my on-campus apartment my friend stuck her head out her door, asked if I had heard, and yanked me into her apartment. No classes were cancelled, but we did observe a moment of silence before marching band practice that day, and the football game (LSU) for that weekend was rescheduled.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any real plans for the anniversary this year, other than to remember the tragedy by observing a moment of silence and think about all those that were lost.
I was in Freshmen P.E. class--running stair laps. The teacher walked in and in the quietest voice just said "stop running"-- we sat in the school cafeteria in sweaty gym clothes for a few hours and watched the news. After that the day was such a blur. It is crazy for me now to talk to my students because they were babies when it happened.
ReplyDeleteThis year I am going to a parade on 9-11 because my hubby, the fireman, is going to drive the firetruck. It is hard to celebrate birthdays around such a somber occasion, but I do like to remember the way our country came together over this and many other disasters. Tell DR happy 35th!
Oh my goodness! That post gave me chills. I was a junior in high school and I passed a friend in the hall way. He had his first class over at the "ag building". He said, "Two planes have hit the Twin Towers." I didn't really understand, but my next class was at the "ag building" and once I saw the footage, I understood what happened. The rest of the day the tvs were on.
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! That post gave me chills. I was a junior in high school and I passed a friend in the hall way. He had his first class over at the "ag building". He said, "Two planes have hit the Twin Towers." I didn't really understand, but my next class was at the "ag building" and once I saw the footage, I understood what happened. The rest of the day the tvs were on.
ReplyDeleteI was talking to prospective college student in Gary, Indiana. My soon-to-be husband was in the parking lot. He came in to the school (he was also a police officer) and told us what he had heard on the radio...no TV were on in the school. Of course, once we got home we spent the rest of the day in front of the TV.
ReplyDeleteWhat I remember most, is that my good friend had just had a baby 2 days before. I was thinking of her, and how scared she must have been to have brought a baby into "THIS world". It was hard to imagine on that day, that we would ever feel safe again.