Everyone was talking this week about where you were and what you were doing when the events of 9/11 unfolded. My oldest interviewed me for a homework assignment. I gave my personal account of how my traffic reporter job in Virginia was altered because so many tunnels and bridges were shut down as a safety precaution, due to the number of military bases in the area surrounding Virginia Beach. We were basically telling people to stay off the roads. It was scary driving into work for my afternoon shift, staring at my surroundings wondering if the next terrorist target was nearby.
My husband and I attended a wedding on a military base days after the attacks. It was supposed to be a beach wedding, but that particular beach remained closed. The ceremony and reception were done inside with a view of the sand and water and armed guards who lined the shore. The bride was simply happy to be having her wedding at the location at all. Luckily, the non-military personnel restrictions were lifted and guests were allowed on the base.
There are a few things that really stand out for me about September 11, 2001. I remember getting a call at work from my husband telling me he just talked to his dad who lived in Somerset County. He said that a plane went down not far from his home. (This was before the crash of Flight 93 was confirmed.) I was incredulous. I thought it was a random plane, a coincidence, something unrelated to the other events happening in New York and Washington D.C. How could a small town, in rural PA have anything to do with this masterfully crafted terrorist attack? Later that evening, my husband would see people he knew on the national news being interviewed about the crash.
I remember a passionate conversation with my brother, who was 24 at the time, and his desire to sign up for military service. He was ready to kill some terrorists and he wasn't taking any names. He never did sign up, but I did admire him at the time and felt a little proud that he wanted to follow in our dad's footsteps and fight for our country and the freedoms we lost that day.
Exactly one month prior to 9/11, my husband and I went on a cruise. We flew to Georgia then to Ft. Lauderdale to board the ship. We flew without a care in the world - without taking our shoes off, without measuring our shampoo, without personally being x-rayed.
I remember flying back to Norfolk with a couple friends and hearing a bunch of thuds coming from underneath the plane. It was obviously suitcases shuffling around, but it was rather loud. I remember asking what all that noise could be and our one friend said nonchalantly, "It's probably just the plane falling apart." We all had a chuckle, being the cynical bunch we were, never for a second imagining the heartbreaking events that would happen in the sky for real in a few short weeks.
I guess looking back on 9/11 it is easy to see how kids wouldn't want to talk about it each year. It is sad and depressing and not exactly the kind of topic you want to get into only a few weeks after school has begun. And I probably didn't give Dec. 7 the proper attention it deserved when I was in school. If you were not there and did not live through it, it is hard to comprehend the emotion and impact of such devastating events.
But it is important to talk about 9/11 every year. It's a day that shook our nation to its core and it became our A.D. We define things as pre 9/11 or after 9/11. Life changed - even something as simple as listening to the radio changed; as songs deemed violent got less airplay and patriotic numbers increased. Kids need to know this as they will write the book for dealing with their own national crisis some day.
I can only hope the teen who didn't want to talk about the events of 16 years ago took something away from his classroom lesson this week. I, too, wish we didn't have to talk about 9/11 each year, but ignoring these anniversaries, no matter how tragic, would do us all a disservice. For only in knowing where we've been can we have any gratitude for how far we've come.
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