Dealing With the Day After September 11th

I remember where I was on Sept. 11, 2001.

I was at home. I worked the night shift in a clinical laboratory and had just gotten off work.  MJ had taken the day off because we had a contractor at our home to take care of some punch list items. MJ wanted to be there so he could talk to him and allow me to go to sleep. I was seven months pregnant with our first child.

The TV was tuned in to the Today Show—they cut to footage of the World Trade Center in New York City just after the first plane hit. At that time, no one was sure what had happened. Was it an accident? Then, from the right side of the screen, came the second plane. Instantly we knew this was no accident.

We were glued to the television for the rest of the day. We knew that war, hunger, and political unrest haunted other countries. We were sympathetic to the plights of the UN workers and military personnel in foreign lands, but we were tucked away in our safe little pocket of the good ole United States of America.

That illusion, or delusion, was shattered in a second. The terrorist attack that brought planes crashing into the twin towers, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania, showed us just how vulnerable we are.

The events that unfolded on that fateful day shook our country’s confidence to the core. We believed we were untouchable. We were wrong. I wanted to wrap our little family of, almost, three in a tight, impenetrable cocoon. I wondered what kind of world we were bringing a child into.

I don’t remember September 12, 2001. I know the following days, weeks and months were filled with uncertainty of how to go on, how to move forward. But move forward we did, as a family and as a nation.  If anything, 9/11 taught us to appreciate every moment, because you never know how much time you will have.

Explaining the tragedy of 9-11 to our kids is tricky. They know what happened in New York. They know many people were injured and killed. What they don’t understand is, why?

On Sept. 1, Linda Ellerbee hosted a Nick News Special titled, “What Happened? The Story of September 11, 2001”. The special featured kids from across the country that have been affected by the devastating events that took place that day.

When talking with children, Ellerbee is quoted as saying, “Ignorance can be dangerous. Don’t lie to kids. They can handle the truth. Don’t talk down to kids. They’re not dumb. They’re just younger and shorter. Treat them with respect. Life is hard even if you’re an 11 year old. Remind them that wherever you find bad things happening in this world, you also always find good people trying to make it better. And finally, remind them to always question everything, especially the media.”

I can’t pass the monument off of Highway 40 at the Winghaven exit without thinking about Sept. 11. I say a prayer for the men, women and children who lost their lives in the twin towers, the pentagon, and the passengers on that doomed flight, crashed in a Pennsylvania field. I pray for the brave fireman, policeman, doctors and nurses, and others who ran into the smoking rubble to help save whomever they could.

We will help our children learn that through tragedy, heroes arise—not Superman or Spiderman, but people like you, me, and maybe someday, them.