story4188.xml

story4188.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-11

I remember the Principal coming on after the first plane hit saying not to panic and to go on with normal activities, and none of us had any idea what he was talking about, seeing as we had been ther since 7 that morning. My director went in her office to turn on the news to find out what was going on. She came back and asked us all to sit down in a circle so she could give us an update and at about that time the second plane hit the south tower. I remember feeling totally confused about the whole thing because no one really knew what was going on. When we it was time to change we turned the radio on the news stations so we could find out accurate information. We knew it was terrorists and we knew it was an attack on the united states.
What infuriated me was not being able or allowed to watch TV. We had to go on with the day as if it was "normal." Teachers had to pretend that didn't want to watch it and students remained clueless and uninformed. That day was historic, important, and emotional, yet we weren't able to watch it happen through the TV. We pretended like everything was ok but it wasn't.
That afternoon I came home to find my mom croutched by the TV with tears running down her face. I finally got to see the footage of the planes destroying the towers and the debri and the horrified people running for their lives. It was important to me to be able to see that and know what had happened and how it had happened.
Since that day I have been amazed to see the patriotism and brotherly love American's have come to display. NOthing has ever brought this nation closer in my life time, and I'm so fortunate to have not lost a family member or friend, but I feel we have all lost something. We lost our since of security and we lost fellow citizens, however we gained back the proud spirit of America that was lost among the generations.