My Memories Of 9-11-01…Something I Won’t Ever Forget

It's hard to believe that the attack on the World Trade Centers took place on this day 19 years ago...September 11, 2001 is a day that no American will forget. The images of smoke, first responders, memorials and more are burned into our history forever.

I was sitting here thinking about what I was doing on that day.

On 9-11-01, I was actually sitting in a second grade classroom in Deep East Texas, with no idea about what horrific historical event was taking place in New York City. My teacher was called to the door by another faculty member, and I can remember her gasping at the news that I couldn't hear. I can remember the teachers at the elementary school talking in hushed tones throughout the day about something unbelievable that had just taken place, but it wasn't conveyed to us students at that time.

Riding home with my mom - who was an educator at the same elementary school that I attended - was quite different that day. It was quiet. It was totally different from our normal car rides home, where we would discuss what had been learned that day, or what other things had transpired at school. Nothing was really discussed.

As we came into our house, my Dad had the television turned onto one of the news channels, and we began to watch the looping footage of what had taken place in New York. We watched in silence as they played footage of the planes colliding with the towers, followed by footage of people helping move through the mounds of debris in the streets.

As a second grader, I didn't wrap my head around it. I was not some genius of a kid that could make sense of everything that I was taking in at the time. Actually, looking back, I don't think ANYBODY at the time could make sense of what they were taking in. It was all a blur, and it was all so unexpected, that all we could do at the time was watch.

Now, looking back, I can remember the hurt and the pain that we watched that day, from our little part of the world. It wasn't until I was older that I really grasped just how much hurt and evil that I had witnessed. But, I remember those videos so vividly. It's something I won't - and shouldn't - ever forget.