“We honor and remember the the nearly 3,000 men, women and children killed in the September 11, 2001 attacks at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and aboard Flight 93, as well as the six people killed in the February 1993 World Trade Center bombing.”
-Washington DC State Legislature Leaders Foundation
You know how old people used to always say, “Back in the good ole days…” “Back when I was a kid…” “I remember when…” and they were things like the Great Depression and World War 2 and times before electricity and such? Well, turns out that for me what seems “current” is actually history. Like, I swear Sept. 11 was like 3 years ago. But it was 10 years ago! And the ’90s are no longer current either. Weird!
So now my “I remember when…” is I remember when I heard about the attack on the Twin Towers. I was in 4th grade, and my teacher Mr. Rencher gave us a very important talk about it, with personal connections due to his experiences in the Vietnam War. I will also never forget the recurring image of the Towers blowing up, shown over and over and over again. And watching live news of the families and friends of those in the buildings, as they waited anxiously to hear any news at all. Then seeing cemetery gatherings of tribute, commemoration, and extreme sorrow.
It affected the entire country, (I remember when airports were entirely different than they are now. Back in the good ole days we used to be able to meet people right outside the terminal. And we didn’t have to hand over our entire lives and beings as we went through ‘security’.) but individual lives even more. Imagine the family who lost a father, or a mother, or a brother. Maybe the newly married wife who would never see her husband again. It’s interesting to think about how all the history we learn about is actually a collection of many personal histories. And that’s what it’s all about.
I will never forget, and I’ll try to remember each year about the magnificent effect this event had on individual lives.
I remember learning about the attack on the twin towers in kindergarten, in the same school as you! It’s weird that my sisters don’t remember anything about it, and that in fifty years, I’ll be telling the story of 9-11 same as folks today are telling about the Great Depression, D-Day, or the first computer ever made.