story11260.xml

story11260.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2005-01-18

Where were you on July 22, 2002? You may or may not know. Now, what if I asked you where you were on September 11, 2001? Chances are you know exactly where you were and what you were doing on that day. Either you were at work, school, or somewhere else. Everyone can tell you where they were, just like the generation before me knows where they were the day John F. Kennedy was assassinated. September 11th was a day that will infamously go down in history as a day of death and destruction, one that none of us, especially me, will ever forget.
We all know what happened. Two hijacked planes flew into the World Trade Center Buildings in New York City. Another plane also flew into the Pentagon building in Washington, D.C. And a third plane crashed in the middle of a Pennsylvanian field, its original destination unknown. Thousands of people died from the event and it without a doubt changed America forever. Whenever you go on a plane, you must pass through extra security. You carry a small bit of fear that cannot be escaped, about that fact that it could happen to you this time. Yet because of that fact that America can be harmed, makes us question if we are really safe, even though we have always thought America was not a country that could be attacked. People are more patriotic because they want to support America and remember all of those who lost their lives. The term ?terrorist? has become a household term and may remain that way for a long time. The people who crashed into the Twin Towers did so for only one visible reason: to create a sense of terror in America. They did not destroy our county in the attacks but they strengthened our patriotism and in effect made us stronger. We will never forget September 11th, but we will remember it as a day that we came through for our wounded in the attacks, and as a day that America became a new country.
Everybody has a story about that day which they will tell to their children and their grandchildren, a story of how it changed America, and how it changed them personally. My story started early that morning. If you had asked me on September 10th if the next day would be eventful, I would have said very much. I was to skip school and take the subway to downtown Baltimore where I would enjoy a day at the science center with my mom, my brother Eric, and some of Eric?s friends and their parents. It was a home school group and we were all going to meet at the science center for an educational ?field trip?. But I was not home schooled and I was just skipping school for the day. I was with other children who were being taught by their parents in a carefree utopia. That?s how I saw it, anyway. I never would have imagined I would eventually join that utopia.
When I got up that morning, I was ready to go. I loved the science center and going would be the highlight of my week, if not the entire month. So we headed out to the subway station in the cool, crisp September morning. I can remember the dew on the grass and a slight mist in the air, cooling my face. When we got to the subway station, we met Eric?s friends and their parents. Then we dropped off our cars and headed into the station. Once we arrived downtown, we walked up the stairs and headed out. The science center in Baltimore is just feet away from a beautiful harbor, the inner harbor, which is one of the best sights in Baltimore.
Once inside the building, we began to explore and do things. The exhibits were great and we were all having fun. Then we walked up to the very top of the building for a laser show. I enjoyed that more then anything else in the whole museum so far. After that, we were supposed to go downstairs to see an Imax movie about the ocean, on a five-story screen! I was really excited about that because I had never been to an Imax theater.
Still on the upper floor, I noticed that all of the employees were standing around a small television set. Then the parents started looking at it. I began to wonder what could be so important that all the employees were watching TV in the middle of the morning? And then I saw what they were all looking at. Two giant skyscrapers, hundreds of feet tall each, were both billowing with smoke. I began to get scared and I heard some people say thing like ?oh, my God? in a hushed whisper. But I was partially annoyed about it. I did not know what the buildings were, nor did I know why people did not go about their businesses. I simply had no idea why everyone was staring at the buildings, crashing down in front of our eyes. I was told what had happened but I was still anxious to see the rest of the exhibit. I didn?t care what had happened to the thousands of people in the buildings. People die everyday and they don?t get a national memento. I didn?t see why these people were so important.
Eventually, we went downstairs toward the big screen theater. But then we turned and left the building. We sat on some benches outside the front gate. I was in shock. How could something hundreds of miles away make us leave a perfectly harmless place? I was almost frightened. Then my mom said we wouldn?t be going back in. That gave me a feeling in the pit of my stomach, something that should have happened when I heard of the disaster. Then across the harbor, I saw something that personally made it all real for me. I saw a building that I knew to be the World Trade Center in Baltimore. There was yellow tape wrapped around the building, the kind that?s used at crime scenes. I also saw policemen standing around the building, preventing people from going in. I saw that it really had affected me, all the way in Baltimore and it was scarier then I could have imagined.
Some of the parents in our group went up to the ticketing office of the science center to get some more information. I saw people running around briskly as if they were in a hurry and I heard fragments of thing like ?what?s going to happen now? and ?how could this have happened?? I was then confirmed in my belief that the science center would be closed. I would never see that Imax movie on that large screen like I wanted. But now I suddenly wanted to be in the comfort of my own home, in the safety of my own bedroom and away from this madness. When I was there, the world seemed to melt away. That?s what I needed.
I ate my packed lunch and then we left for the subway station. Some people were talking about rumors that the subway was closing but we headed on. I imagined it as a perilous journey that we had to complete before the station closed. If we failed to reach it in time, we?d be trapped in a place that seemed far from home. But when we finally got there, we were all glad to see it was indeed still open. When we boarded, it was so crowded with all the people trying to get home that we all had to stand. One vivid memory I have of the ride was many of the gentlemen giving up their seats for children. This surprisingly continues to be one of the most powerful memories I have to date. But we made it home, and the to my grandmother?s house. I do not know for sure why we went there, but I imagine we did to get emotional support or simply to tell the tale. She and my mother were very close and saw each other often. I remember the days when we took her to the store to go shopping for groceries once a week. At the time I had no idea there would be only a few more. That would be a larger tragedy then five September 11ths combined because it would be a personal tragedy, one that I could relate to. But her dieing the next year would help me eventually begin to imagine the same tragedy that had happened to thousands on that one-day. All those innocent lives, just like my Nana.
Over time we found out more. I don?t really remember many of the details about the aftermath. All I know now is that it somehow led us to war. I?m not very connected to that, either. It seems even further away in a far away county called Iraq. It?s funny that I hadn?t even known it was a county before the war. But that?s one of the things I?ve learned from the news. The 6 o?clock news now contains horrible scenes of war and terrorists, some that many will never forget. I always hear about the families of the casualties of war. They are always sad but hopeful. They are hopeful that peace will be brought in the world someday and that the entire endless killing will stop. But that is not what they say. They say that their husbands fought for their county and they did and still do support that cause.
Recently, there has been a similar disaster on the islands of the Indian Ocean. These Asian islands have been hit with a tremendous tsunami. It has been called the September 11th of Southeast Asia. And so I have thought about this statement. It has killed many more people then our attacks and many more are dying of the disease and water contamination in the poorer countries. But there is one large difference between this and the attacks on America. Humans carried out the September 11th attacks. Other humans created the disaster, our own people. But the tsunami disaster could not have been helped. It was a force of nature. It also helped bring many wealthy countries together, including America, to aid these people in their own crisis. It has brought us together to help, not harm. A better kind of disaster as many would say.
If you ask anyone on the street if September 11th has changed America and the world, they will say yes. They will tell you mainly the same thing. If you ask them if it changed them, they will say yes, but every single story will be different. My story is unique, just like every other person?s story. It is not that I was in a strange place that day. It is that I was in ignorance. I refused to accept the facts. But I have gone over the facts in my head over and over. I feel now that I acted immaturely, even though I was only ten years old. I have made a decision that this experience has personally changed my life for the better. I can share sympathy with the mourners of the attacks. I know what they lost. I lost my grandmother. When I set out to write this piece, I had no idea that I would include her untimely death. I had not realized the connection until I began writing and the experience flowed out of myself and onto the paper, the ultimate goal of all writers. But the immense sorrow I have for her can give me somewhat of an idea of what the families of the attack victims felt. They must have felt extreme rage and anger at the people responsible. All I have to be mad at for my grandmother?s death is the uncontrollable cancer, similar to the seemingly uncontrollable terrorists. She showed me that tragedy in it, and I am somewhat grateful that I fully understand now.