Do You Remember?

Do you remember where you were on September 11? I sure do.

Ten years ago I had never been to New York City. I had a desire to go, but knew that was where the 10^th graders went on their class trip and it wasn’t too far off. I had only been on a plane for one trip to El Salvador in April of that year. I was a fairly happy, normal 12 year-old with 4 close friends and was mildly obsessed with the Left Behind books. If I had to describe my identity on September 10, 2001, it would have been as a Christian, a middle schooler, a Pennsylvanian, an aspiring musician, a member of the puppet team (really), and maybe, if pressed, an American.

I was in 7^th grade. We were sitting in Bible class first period when the first plane hit the World Trade Center and we had no idea. We could hear commotion through the thinly divided rooms and I remember it sounded like the class next door had the television on. I was a little jealous that they got to watch a movie.

When the bell rang at 9:00 we walked into the hallway and the other section of 7^th grade was just coming from science class, where we were headed. In passing we heard conflicting stories. A plane hit the Empire State Building. Terrorists were going to bomb the White House. And a flurry of other stories in between. I stopped at my locker and put my Bible away and got out my science book. I walked into the classroom between 9:01 and 9:02, details I never thought I’d even consider important.

Yesterday when reading over the timeline for that day I realized I had seen the second plane hit the World Trade Center at 9:03. My science teacher, Mr. Buck, had the television on and I remember looking up and thinking it was some kind of replay of what my classmates had already told me had happened. I asked if I could go to my locker and I got my Bible.

I had no idea what I was looking for. I just knew from going to a Christian school from kindergarten that all of the answers I would ever need were in there. I opened to Revelation (remember, I was obsessed with the Left Behind books) but just paged through without really reading anything. I just felt safer having it with me.

The rest of that day is mostly a blur. Mr. Buck left the television on even after they made an announcement to the teachers to turn them off, so we got to see some of the additional footage. I think we may have seen footage of the Pentagon as well, just as the bell was ringing to go to third period. My mom worked at the school and I remember scooting down to hear about what all was going on. She tells me that she was so thankful to be in the same building as my sister and I that day.

In many ways I feel as though that day made me an American. I had little concept of the country outside of my own state, but I knew that day that I was inexplicably tied to millions of others who called this country their own. And when our Pennsylvania governor left to become the head of what would later be the Department of Homeland Security, I felt an even stronger bond. I bought the T-shirt with the flag on it. I learned the patriotic songs. I asked questions. Eventually I was able to understand all of what happened that day. All of the loss, the horror, and the sacrifices made in the midst of that tragedy. Even today, though, I cannot claim to understand the magnitude of what happened for the people in New York, DC, and those on those planes because I was not there and only saw them on a tiny television screen.