story20509.xml

story20509.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2006-09-11

It was September 11th, 2001 and I was starting my first day as a 6th grader, king of elementary school. Life was good, we were on top, able to cut in the lunch line, and having extended recesses. On this particular day, we were in class when the principle came on the PA with an address stating that there would be no outside recess for that day. The whole class was upset because it was a beautiful day, and we were looking forward to a game of 4-square. At lunch, rumors were flying around. Kids were being pulled out of school, some were saying the White House had been bombed, others that the president had been shot, no one knew the real story. When we got back to class the TV was on, but as soon as we walked in the room, our teacher turned it off. As the day progressed, our class was slowly declining in numbers, with parents stopping by and picking up there children. Class continued as normal, and at the end of the day, I ran home to find out what was going on. My mom was on the phone, and the TV was on. I waited for my mother to get off the phone, and thats when I found out what was happening. I ran down to where the TV was and watched as the images flew across the screen over and over again. First the North tower, then the South, then the collapse. Over and over it happend. There was then a shot of the soot covering cars, and one car happend to be a company car for where my uncle worked. My mom tried to call my aunt, but the switchboard was overloaded, and we couldnt get through. My mom also remembered that the next door neighbors at our old house both worked there. My dad and sister both came home safe, and we watched the news all night long. The next day, I watched the news before school, at school, and after school. We were finally able to get through that night to find out that my uncle was ok, and that he wasnt schedualed to work in New York on that day, and the neighbors were both ok, but it was a close call. One had her office hit. Luckily, she had had a meeting with her boss moved to the bosses office on the other side of the building because her wall was being reenfourced. I will never forget that day, what happend, and people so close to me that I came so close to losing.