9/11 Remember

We were asleep when it all started. Or rather I was doing something, kids were asleep, Shawn was still in bed and the phone rang. A fellow teacher called to let me know that someone had bombed NewYork.

My head spun and I did what Americans do, I turned on the News. I called my husband and got the girls up and moving as we watched and tried to make sense of something so unexpected, so tragic, and so scary.

It is terrifying to think that we can no longer trust the news to give accurate reporting. I am afraid we can no longer trust any one source of information; but back then, we sank into chairs and watched. Believing they would tell us as much as they could as soon as they knew. I went to work and heard about the building’s collapse and at the first chance I started making contact with family.

It was a day I will remember, the first shock of the call, trying to find out what really happened, and days of being stunned. As a teacher I tried to reassure students, explain what I could and refocus back on what they needed to learn.

Years later when people started to make up lies, it surprised me. When I heard a teacher promoting a false scenario, I presented photographic proof to students who were confused, and mired in false accusations. The world has enough tough realities and scary situations, we don’t need to make up more.

In any case, do you remember where you were and what you were doing?