story6197.xml

story6197.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-12

It was just a routine day! I went to the office to turn in my atendance at around 9 and the secretary told me that a plane had hit the World Trade Center. We thought it was a smal plane that had done so accidentally. We continued to listen to the radio and heard of the 2nd plane hitting the other Tower. I returned to my classroom, trying to act as nothing had happened - I had 19 7 &8 year olds to teach! I received a message on my e-mail from my 15 year old daughter - she was at school, located very near NASA. The rumors flying around there were that NASA would be hit next. My daughter expressed her fear of being that close to NASA - I told her to leave school and come to my school. She did. Only then did I feel "ok"! I realized how fortunate I was to have all that mattered right there with me at a time when that was the most important thing. Parents of my studetns began arriving to take their children home. I know that they felt the same wasy - if they just had their family all together, in one place, things would be "ok". Because my students were so young, there wasn't much de\iscussion in hte room. They know that something big had happened - they could feel the tension in the whole building. There were several teacher who had family flying that day and we were sharing cell phones and covering classes so that they could try to locate family memebers. It is a day that I will always remember! Yesterday, on the anniversary, we had a moment of silence and said the pledge - really said the pledge. Then it was back to business as usual for the students. Not for me though. My heart was heavy the whole day. I pray peace and blessing to all the family and friends of those lost in this horrible attack.