I remember....

I remember vividly my parents and their friends telling me their JFK assassination stories...they would reminisce about where they were when they heard the "news." It wasn't possible to forget, my mom would explain, because everything changed after that; a sense of peace and prosperity were destroyed, never to be recaptured again.

On September 11, 2001, I found out exactly what she was talking about. I will never forget that morning. I was a teacher at Western Harnett High School, and I was with my 2nd period Honors English III class. I don't remember exactly what I was teaching, but looking at the date and comparing it to the start of school and my pacing guide for that class, it was probably To Kill a Mockingbird. Someone came to my classroom and said that something horrible had happened, and soon after our principal, Mr. Samuels, came on the announcements. It was the most surreal experience of my life. The best way to describe it would be to say that it was like a suspension of time. I'm ashamed to admit that I wasn't entirely sure which buildings the Twin Towers were (I had never been to New York), but I quickly found out when my students hooked up our prehistoric television system. We did not have cable at our school, so someone had to hold a long cord a certain way to get reception. Our eyes were glued to the set as we watched our nation in its most vulnerable state ever.

I teach in a military community, so the reactions of the students are forever implanted on my mind. Many could not process the events, and they would break down crying in fear. Others had to be checked out of school just so they could feel safe surrounded by their loved ones. I often think of these military kids and of the ones I teach today. The military family structure has been forever changed...so many of these kids are growing up without one or even both of their parents because of the subsequent war on terror. These kids are also victims of that fateful day.

Later that night we went out to dinner with a cousin that was visiting from another state. Fort Bragg and Fayetteville were virtual ghost towns. Anyone who has ever visited these towns knows that this never happens; these cities are always hopping. We ate at Chili's, and the restaurant was eerily quiet--it was so unsettling that I think that we all regretted even going out. We ate and quickly went home to join the rest of the country in front of our television sets.

I do remember getting extremely angry at one thing that day. Stephanie was in third grade at South Harnett Elementary School. She came home from school and told me and her Daddy that she has watched footage all day at school. We were furious and complained to the school. If anyone can remember, the footage from the first day was extremely graphic because it was unedited--it showed people jumping and falling and all sorts of chaos on the ground....it was definitely not something for an eight-year-old to view.

I understand that one day Sophie and my future grandchildren will hear us talking about where we were on September 11, 2001, just as I heard my parents with their JFK stories many years ago. I was detached from those conversations because I could not relate...unfortunately, for the past ten years I have been relating. For their sake, I hope that they never have to experience their own "I remember..." event.

All photos by Chris Hondros for Getty Images.
RIP Chris....