story9591.xml

story9591.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2003-09-11

I can't remember exactly what class I was in when I first heard the news, but I can tell you where I was when the first tower fell. My school is about 45mins away from New York City and most people commute to the city for work. So, when we first heard the news, all the teachers basically suspended their classes to let the kids call their parents to make sure they were okay. We have a television is every classroom, lining the hallway ceilings, and in the library, and lounges. And there wasn't a T.V. that wasn't turned on and tuned into the news nor a T.V. lacking a group of kids surrounding them watching and listening intently.
During the course of the morning I found myself down in the library trying to figure out exactly how close my very good friend's school was to the Twin Towers when the first tower fell. The librarian's had set up chairs in front of the T.V. But the crowd was so big, I was standing. I was staring in awe, not quite comprehending what was happening, when my friend came up behind me and said, "That was one of the Twin Towers. It just fell." Neither the words nor the pictures registered in my mind at first. It was such a shock, and I couldn't get my mind around the fact that a plane had flown into the building and that it had just collapsed before my eyes. And then to see, the plane crash into the second building a short time after was more than words can describe. It was awful, hateful, and inhumane. The rest of the day is a blur. I went home and waited till my Mom got back from the City. Her story is more horrible than mine, because although I might have watched the towers fall on T.V. my mother watched them fall from the top of her office building.
That night watching the news, learning what had happened, how the planes had been hijacked, how D.C. had been hit and that there was a plane intended to do damage in L.A. it was just so horrible. I'm sure I cried. I just couldn't believe that something so hateful could happen, especially to New York City.
For the days following, I never knew how much patriotic spirit I had inside of me, not to mention the love I had for New York City. I went to the city the following weekend. Not down to the site, but to Times Square, and words can't describe what I saw. Patriotic spirit everywhere but then everything was deserted and deprived of people. So much in our world changed that day. We saw so much courage, pain, and the binding together of a Nation.