nmah6322.xml

nmah6322.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2003-10-01

September 11th, 2001. I lived in Overland Park, Kansas at the time. I was only in 6th grade, but I remember that day well. It seemed like an ordinary day. Except, boys were going around telling us we were going to war. I did not understand what they were saying. My principal came in with a somber look on her face. I knew something was wrong. She told us what happened and who attacked us. It was all sort of strange, but it did not really sink in until the day I got home. I watched it on every news channel over and over again. The picture had gotten imprinted in my mind. At that moment, I felt really selfish enough to thank my lucky stars that I was in Kansas, and far away from NYC or Washington D.C. However, that did not take away me shock and saddness. It all became overwhelming. I was only 12, but I still understood what was going on and how the world was feeling. I'm only but a year older, but it has impacted my life greatly. I since then moved to Houston and have a new life. Yet, its funny, because my former school was Oak Park Elementary. And I'm in the picture of the students holding up the mitten filled banner. I'm the asian girl with glasses. Thats me. I'm real. And 9/11 was all real to me.

I am a thirteen year old girl living in Houston. However, I was living in Overland Park, Kansas at the time of the attack. A few months after Sept. 11th, my school created a banner for the workers at Ground Zero. The banner said, "Oak Park Warms Your Hearts With Our Mittens". I helped create that banner. I'm displayed in the photo with the kids holding up the mitten-filled banner. I'm the Asian girl with glasses. Yep. thats me. Its one thing to make a cute, warm holiday message. But its another to make a comforting reminder that there are people thinking about them and praying for them.