9/11
I was 13 at the time. It was my brother's 11th birthday. We had just finished breakfast in bed (a family birthday tradition) and I was getting ready for school in my brand new room down in the basement. I always listened to the radio as I got ready for school. It was one of those Nickelodeon clock/radios--I liked it because it was kind of weird looking and glowed green in the dark and made funny sounds for the alarm. I even remember what station I was listening to. I had just "graduated" from listening to Radio Disney, and had started listening to Kiss 106.1 on a regular basis just two weeks prior.
I don't remember what Jackie (one of the talk show hosts) was talking about before it happened. But I do remember Bender (the other) suddenly bursting in--"Holy crap, a plane just crashed into the World Trade Center!" I remember pausing and looking at my radio, frowning. Then Bender said that it was on King five news, and I ran upstairs, and told my mom to turn on the TV. We didn't watch much TV at all at the time, so my request was really weird.
We watched as the first tower burned, stunned. I wasn't sure how to react at the time. It was very surreal, and I was young. My brother even more so. Mom kept the TV on all morning as we continued to get ready for school. We watched again, as a second plane crashed into the other tower. I remember feeling numb and disjointed. My uncle lived in Connecticut at the time, but took the train to New York every day to work. I asked my mom if he was in danger; she said no. Uncle Indy doesn't work near there.
Mom tried to keep things normal, I think, on purpose. She ushered us off to school on our buses. I don't remember whether the bus was unusually quiet or not. But I remember my math teacher forgoing class to turn on the news and watch, as more information poured in. One was an American plane from Boston. So was the other.
The day's a blur, but there are single moments that I can pick out. Stark images that made their impressions on me.
Maybe this is inappropriate. Maybe this just feels like propaganda. Feel free to skip it. But I need to remember. Because it's too easy to get lulled into a sense of calm, after so many years. To forget.
Do I think the position we're in is good, or healthy? No, of course not. I have a cousin the Marines. He's stationed in Iraq. He'll be home for a month in October, and then he'll be off to Afghanistan. Do I wish he wasn't fighting? Do I wish that he was home, instead of going to two of the most dangerous places in the world right now? Of course I do. Just a week ago, on the radio (the same station I was listening to 8 years prior), it was reported that a soldier in Afghanistan from Federal Way, Washington, had been caught in a roadside bomb. The only thing that kept me from pulling over to the side of the road and frantically dialing my aunt was the fact that I knew Steve is in Iraq right now, not Afghanistan.
Today is my brother's birthday. He is turning 19 years old. God, how time flies. We"ll still celebrate his birthday with breakfast in bed. And we'll still put up our flag at half-mast on our flagpole. And I will still re-watch that footage. It's easy to find--just try youtube.
Perhaps things that have happened since that day that aren't the best for this country. Maybe mistakes have been made. But I dwell on those enough during the rest of the year; for now, I'll focus only on this.
I don't remember what Jackie (one of the talk show hosts) was talking about before it happened. But I do remember Bender (the other) suddenly bursting in--"Holy crap, a plane just crashed into the World Trade Center!" I remember pausing and looking at my radio, frowning. Then Bender said that it was on King five news, and I ran upstairs, and told my mom to turn on the TV. We didn't watch much TV at all at the time, so my request was really weird.
We watched as the first tower burned, stunned. I wasn't sure how to react at the time. It was very surreal, and I was young. My brother even more so. Mom kept the TV on all morning as we continued to get ready for school. We watched again, as a second plane crashed into the other tower. I remember feeling numb and disjointed. My uncle lived in Connecticut at the time, but took the train to New York every day to work. I asked my mom if he was in danger; she said no. Uncle Indy doesn't work near there.
Mom tried to keep things normal, I think, on purpose. She ushered us off to school on our buses. I don't remember whether the bus was unusually quiet or not. But I remember my math teacher forgoing class to turn on the news and watch, as more information poured in. One was an American plane from Boston. So was the other.
The day's a blur, but there are single moments that I can pick out. Stark images that made their impressions on me.
Maybe this is inappropriate. Maybe this just feels like propaganda. Feel free to skip it. But I need to remember. Because it's too easy to get lulled into a sense of calm, after so many years. To forget.
Do I think the position we're in is good, or healthy? No, of course not. I have a cousin the Marines. He's stationed in Iraq. He'll be home for a month in October, and then he'll be off to Afghanistan. Do I wish he wasn't fighting? Do I wish that he was home, instead of going to two of the most dangerous places in the world right now? Of course I do. Just a week ago, on the radio (the same station I was listening to 8 years prior), it was reported that a soldier in Afghanistan from Federal Way, Washington, had been caught in a roadside bomb. The only thing that kept me from pulling over to the side of the road and frantically dialing my aunt was the fact that I knew Steve is in Iraq right now, not Afghanistan.
Today is my brother's birthday. He is turning 19 years old. God, how time flies. We"ll still celebrate his birthday with breakfast in bed. And we'll still put up our flag at half-mast on our flagpole. And I will still re-watch that footage. It's easy to find--just try youtube.
Perhaps things that have happened since that day that aren't the best for this country. Maybe mistakes have been made. But I dwell on those enough during the rest of the year; for now, I'll focus only on this.