nmah699.xml

nmah699.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-08-30

I teach sixth grade in a suburb about 40 miles east of NYC. My students were in Art class, so I had stopped in the main office, where everyone was huddled around a radio. We heard the scrambled first reports,and we were told not to say anything to the students. I went back to my class absolutely numb. When the children returned, I had to act as though nothing had happened, but on my desk, I had my monitor turned away from the class, and I periodically checked the events on CNN.com. Another plane hit. One tower falls. The other tower falls. The Pentagon gets hit. Another plane goes down. The whole time, I'm just smiling at the children and teaching them their lessons. Being so close to NYC I really felt all day that I would be called on to keep these children safe, and I fully realized the enormity of the responsibility I had. When I got into my car to go home, I discovered I had scratched a spot on the back of my hand until it bled.

I feel that Americans received a big wake-up call. Instead of worrying about the latest tabloid scandal, I feel we are directing our energies in better directions. We were reminded of what matters.

We need to remember that those underpaid civil servants died for others. Their sacrifice must always be remembered. I'll never forget the people coming down the stairs in the Twin Towers describing the firefighters going up. That says it all.

I definitely have more flags around, and I surely feel more strongly about the symbol of our country.