13 years ago I woke up for school. I was in 4th grade and I forgot to set my sleep timer on my TV before bed so I woke up to New York City on my TV. It wouldn't have mattered what channel I was on, they were all showing the same thing. A plane had hit the World Trade Center. I didn't even know what the World Trade Center was. I went downstairs and told my mom as we got ready for school about what I saw. As we left towards Rogers Elementary the radio was giving updates but as a 10 year old kid, I hadn't quite grasped what was going on. Then again at that time nobody did. As we pulled into the parking lot and walked into the building we passed empty rooms as the day hadn't started yet. My mom and I went and talked to another teacher and were about to tell her the news she probably already knew when I saw the TV was on in the background. Both towers were on fire. Another plane had crashed. America was under attack. The rest of the day was terrible. As we sat in Mrs. Wallesen's class we didn't know what to do. She tried to explain as best as she could but 4th graders didn't understand. No body understood. Who could do such a thing? The day never got better. Another plane, this one in DC. A 4th crashed into a field in Pennsylvania. The last thing I remember about the day is going into my bed and crying. I was so lost for the first time in my life that I could remember.
Today I mourn in a similar way as I mourned 13 years ago. Every morning I pray to God for giving me another day, and every night I thanks him again for giving me a good day. At night I always include a special prayer for our troops. For the ones who fight for our freedom.
Tonight my prayers will be the same for the most part with one twist. Today prayers go out to the families who lost someone 13 years ago. They were mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters, friends, and co-workers. They were firefighters and police officers. They were random people on the street who rushed into help when everyone else ran away. Today is to remember them.
The students in my classes today weren't even born on September 11th, 2001. They don't have an event yet that freezes the nation like the JFK Assassination or the events on September 11th. We will talk about the events that happened but the day at school for them will be mostly normal. Not for me. Today there will be a soft spot, today, there will be mourning. Today I hope and pray that there is never an event that my students remember so clearly like I remember September 11th, 2001.
