This year on 9/11 when I got home from school I postitioned myself on my kitchen stool and waited for my mom’s inevitable “How was your day?”
But instead of asking how my day went my mom brought up a different question. Our daily conversation started with “Did your school do anything for 9/11?”
I reflected on this question and gave an unsure answer.
When I left Speech and Debate practice at 3:30 Monday I saw maybe fifteen people working together to hang posters and tissue butterflies. I anticipated the school’s regconition the next day.
However, Tuesday dawned and I attended my classes where most of my teachers had not said anything and there wasn’t a moment of silence.
Beyond the hand-crafted posters, the only other reminders of 9/11 other than the calendar were Twitter updates stating “Go America!” and “#neverforget.”
It’s been 11 years since terrorists hijacked a plane and turned it into a missle destroying the World Trade Center and its 2,500+ occupants.
The senior class is probably the last class to remember the events of the day since we were all only six or seven. Generations are moving on. I worry our society is growing away from tragedy.
Is 9/11 becoming less important or is it just disappearing and becoming another day of commeration like the aniversary of D-Day or Pearl Harbor Day? June 6 passes like a normal summer day and Decemember 7 doesn’t phase me. Is this the fate of September 11?
Even though the memory is slipping away from our communal consciousness, I still recall the events from the heart-breaking morning of September 11, 2001 clearly.
My mom was tying my shoes, like she did every day, while I was sitting at the kitchen counter. During the process she got a call from her friend at work telling her to turn on the news. She did, then stopped the action of tying and stood in shock.
She works for American Express and knew people who frequently visited the World Trade Center and the people who worked at the American Express building next door.
She told my sister and me that everything was going to be okay and walked us to the bus stop. I remember my older sister turning to my mom and asking if the terrorists knew where we lived.
My mom still refers to 9/11 as the day we lost our innocence.
I saw my teacher, Ms. Tenny crying in our small first grade class during the pledge of allegiance along with my mom and dad solmening sitting in front of the TV confused at the end of the day.
Shocked with a surge of reality that day, I learned that not everyone is good and adults have to ability to mourn and not always know the answers.
Even though it was a sunny day in September, I remember my whole elementary school getting a shade darker.
Something flipped inside me when I was seven. So now, it felt weird to me that I didnt notice much activity for 9/11.
But while having my daily conversation with my mom, I realized something. I could have done something for our school to help remember 9/11.
I regret that I didn’t walk to the office and requested a moment of silence. I wish I would have sparked a conversation with my teachers and classmates about the day. But I didn’t, so 9/11 passed like any other day.
I find myself often waiting for other people to do jobs that I want to be done. I ‘m forgetting that this is my school too and I can put in my effort to make a change.
I wish I could have walked into my kitchen on Tuesday and sat down and told my mom that I made a difference on 9/11.
