Recently my cousin, DK interviewed me for a school assignment about 9/11 and what I remember of it. As I talked with him about it I thought back to the exact moment I heard about the first plane crash and as he told me about what they had discussed at school I was a little upset. For one he was only three when it happened, two he was totally freaked out the rest of the weekend and three it reminded me of one of the children in my class that day.
I was in the car on my way to work listening to radio when the first broadcast was made. As an adult I was in shock and awe at what I had heard and as I went to my classroom, the whole building was abuzz with the events of that morning. There were parents rushing in to pick up their children, our phone lines were ringing off the hook and even that wasn't the worse of it. A few hours later, a parent dropped her daughter off and right in the door the little girl started telling all her friends about the "big plane crash." We were a little shocked because she was 4 and mom told us that they had been watching the news and listening to the radio all morning since it happened. Mom left and for the rest of the morning, the little girl kept talking about what had happened and what she had seen and what mom had told her. This of course lead to several questions for us from the other children that were extremely difficult to answer because we had never experienced anything like this. The worse part of the day, for us far removed from New York, was when we tried to take the children outside. That poor little girl freaked out and would not step foot out the door because she was scared of something coming to get her from the sky. When DK asked what I remember about 9/11, I thought back to that little girl and wondered how she was doing now that she's older. Does she remember that day and what she was doing? How has it changed her life? This was a major stressor for this child at the time and I only hope that we were able to help her deal with. At the time, all we could do was try to comfort and reassure her that we were there to protect her and keep her safe.
Hello,
ReplyDeleteI hope I can post to your blog.....9/11 will be a day that is engraved in everyone's brain. Hopefully the young girl at that time has made more sense of what exactly happened that horrible morning. My son went to a school I worked at and when the plane crashed; he ran down the hallway to find me to tell me of the story. That was a very scary day for me because I was worried I would have to leave my family to get deployed. I was in the Navy then and the whole incident really frustrated me. That one day has affected all people in someway or another.
Christine
I remember all the details of that day. Living in New Jersey I know several people who were there that day and survived and know of several people from neighboring communities that didn't. This 9/11 the county newspaper interviewed two children that attend High school with my son who lost their fathers that day. In the article they talked about how for one of them it is very awkward each year when it is discussed in history class, it is in about every American history book now and part of the curriculum. She was actually concerned for the other students because they don't know what to say in front of her. I found that very interesting.
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