Where Were You On 9/11?
On the 11th anniversary of 9/11, Patch Editor Sydney Busby recounts where she was the day of a tragedy that changed a nation and shaped a generation.
In the late summer of 2001, I was beginning my last year of middle school. Eighth grade seemed like a stepping-stone to high school and high school a series of motions to go through before college. Even though I was only 13, adulthood seemed like a grand adventure that I couldn’t wait to be a part of. I wanted to make my own choices and decisions. After all, I was officially a teenager. That’s almost grown, right?
Tuesday morning, Sept. 11, 2001 started out like any other. I dressed for school, said goodbye to my mom when she dropped me off and took my seat in Ms. Murdoch’s homeroom class just as the late bell sounded. The ho-hum morning continued as usual with roll call, morning announcements and an English assignment.
But this was no ordinary morning. The principal came back on the Intercom to say that middle school teachers were asked to turn on their televisions. The younger students at my Catholic elementary school weren’t old enough to see what was happening, but we were almost grown.
The television mounted to the wall snapped on and my classmates and I saw an image of one of the towers billowing smoke. A plane had flown in to the World Trade Center and it was no accident. With that, adulthood didn’t seem like an adventure anymore. In an instant the world had become a scarier place and I wanted to stay a kid for as long I could.
The details about the day are sketchy. Now that 11 years have passed, I have trouble discerning what I saw on the television firsthand and what footage I’ve seen in countless 9/11 memorial reels since.
I remember watching a tower collapse into a cloud of curling smoke.
I remember consoling my friend whose dad was a pilot. Her parents were divorced and he lived alone in D.C. He was working that day, and for a few hours while he was mid-flight she couldn't contact him. Ultimately he called and said he was safe and sound, but to this day I can’t begin to imagine what she must have been feeling.
I remember seeing men and women in business suits marching down New York streets away from the towers like any other day, except in this 9/11 reality they are covered in ash. And instead of walking purposefully toward their homes, they are walking away from work in fear.
I remember looking for Afghanistan on Ms. Murdoch’s world map. I didn’t even know what continent to look on.
I woke up the morning of 9/11 wanting to be an adult and I went to bed that night clinging to a childhood that was slipping my through fingers like smoke.
Where were you on 9/11? Tell us in the comments.
Read more 9/11 remembrances on Smyrna-Vinings Patch:
Anita Norman
8:46 am on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Beautiful essay, Sidney. My son is a year younger than you. Thank you for the perspective on what that day probably did to him, as well.
Maggie Sutton
12:45 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
I was also in middle school when 9/11 happened. I remember being on my way to band class when I heard, which was torturous because we didn't have a TV in that room, so we had to wait the entire class period before we got any news. When I went to my next class, my teacher turned off all the lights, sat in her stool at the podium in the front of the room and very quietly told us what had happened. She let us watch the news coverage for about 15 or 20 minutes before our principal came running through the hallways, shouting at teachers to switch all the televisions off. I remember thinking that was such a cowardly move on the administration's part - not allowing us to see what was happening because we were "too young."
Brian
3:14 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
I was in upstate New York at college, so I woke up pretty late, maybe 15 minutes before it happened. I woke up, flipped on the computer and saw the news alerts about the planes flying. I turned on the TV just after the first plane hit, before the second plane or any of the towers collapsed. Therefore, I saw them collapse live on TV. It didn't sink in that they could collapse until it happened, and I couldn't believe it. Class was cancelled that day in respect for the victims and potential that victims' relatives may be students. The president of the school sent out an email later that day talking about the incident.
I had a friend in school who transferred that year. Previously, he was at St. John's and actually saw 9/11 happen with his own eyes from the Brooklyn shore.
Not too long after, I went to ground zero in person, before much rebuilding started (they were still prepping and repairing the subway station). The parking garage was mostly gone and the trains travelling below the parking garage were exposed.
I also went there again in Dec 2004. Most of the garage and hole had been rebuilt. But the street and sidewalk system was still a mess, with temporary walkways, fences, etc. Some buildings' glass had also permanently melted/deformed to the point that the reflections off them were not straight like they should be.
Brian
3:28 pm on Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Btw, the new WTC is partially built, and will again be the tallest building in the United States. I provided article links because of the images, which they may have the rights to. It's a shame what happened to those 3,000+ people who died and all the workers, first responders and residents who inhaled dust. It was a shock to us all. Based on that, I think what we did with it - banding together, rebuilding it even better without burying our heads in the sand - is a testament of the resiliency of mankind, not just the American people, since this was something that the entire world experienced. There were some dark moments and fear that came out of it, like the Patriot act and some people blaming muslim-americans for something they had no part in, starting some wars we probably shouldn't have gotten into, etc. However, all-in-all, I think we did ok.
http://www.ctpost.com/national/us/slideshow/Tour-of-the-World-Trade-Center-construction-site-48773.php
http://www.ctpost.com/national/us/slideshow/Tour-of-the-World-Trade-Center-construction-site-48773.php
http://www.theindependent.com/news/national/status-of-world-trade-center-site-years-later/article_62ae8472-c3be-5a52-819f-5bece8894cb2.html (click "next" on the photo)
http://thepinoyweekly.com/?p=10958