Senior Year - 9/11: Remembering a Day When Even Second-Graders Listened

I was only in second grade.

The average second-grader is most concerned about who he or she is going to sit with at lunch, or which swings swing the highest at recess. One wouldn’t expect a second-grader to comprehend the tragedy that was September 11, 2001.

I don’t remember exactly how everything happened that day. I remember being in school, Lake Street Elementary, happily enjoying Mrs. Barry’s class. I was innocent and naïve, and I don’t remember sensing any form of panic in anyone. But then again, why would I? I was too busy trying to learn how to read books and spell words on my little whiteboard.

I want to say it was around 10 or 11 a.m. when the school was gathered outside on the front lawn, around the big flag pole. Our principal stood at a podium in front of us with a microphone. He was talking, and surprisingly, we were listening. At least, I was listening. I can’t speak for the rest of my classmates.

I’m not going to pretend that I remember exactly what he said in that speech, but I can say that he was scared. I was starting to notice the fear in all of their eyes, now.

He said something along the lines of, “You’re all safe here. We just want you to know that nothing will hurt you. You’re all going to be OK.”

I remember being confused. I didn’t know what we were safe from or why we were all going to be okay. What was going to hurt me? I asked my friends, but they didn’t know, either. No one would tell me what happened. No one would tell me what was wrong.Everyone was scared, but I didn’t know why.

It wasn’t until I walked home from the bus that day did I know what had actually happened. My mom greeted me at the bus with the biggest hug she’d ever given and a shower of I love yous. She walked my brother and I home, trying to explain to us what had happened.

“You know those really tall buildings in New York, the two right next to each other?” she said. “Well, they were hit by planes, and people are in danger.”

I asked her why the planes hit the towers, and she said that she didn’t know. I asked who was driving the planes, and she said, “Bad people, Alyssa.”

And that was that. Suddenly, the country was in a panic, and everyone was upset. I remember phone call after phone call and prayer after prayer. The news was the only program that played on my TV for a week straight. Everything was changing, and it was too much for my 7-year-old mind to comprehend.

Today marks the 10-year anniversary of this tragic day. Now that I’m 17, I understand a lot more than I did when it happened. I’m fortunate enough to not have lost anyone I know to the incident, and my heart goes out to anyone who did. It’s strange to think that the next generation will be studying this day in their history textbooks, similar to how I studied World War II or the American Revolution.Although it’s the 10-year anniversary, I don’t feel that it’s any different than the nine-year anniversary. It concerns me a little to hear the shock and sympathy in people’s voices when they say “It’s been 10 years” compared to when they said “it’s been nine years” or “it’s been five years.” We should continually be remembering the lives we lost. We should continually be glorifying the firemen and policemen and everyone who sacrificed their lives to help those trapped in the buildings. We should continually be remembering 9/11, whether it’s been 10 years, 28 years, or 100 years.Maybe I was too young to understand what was going on at the time, but now that I’m older, I get it, and I hope that our country is just as concerned about it in the years to come. The families of those who were lost deserve to know that their country cares this much every year, not just on the ten-year anniversary.

My only hope is that September 11, 2012 will be just as big of a deal as September 11, 2011, because, as tragic as that day 10 years ago was, it brought us all together as a country. While it’s disappointing that it took something as catastrophic as 9/11 to bring us all together, it’s comforting to know that the United States is able to be fully united over something.