Where were you?

Every year the question is asked. "Where were you on September 11, 2001?" I always replay that day in my head on the anniversary of 9/11. People are right; you never forget where you were and the feelings you had, even 16 years later.

September 11, 2001- I remember being in the 7th grade, kneeling at my locker, getting my things ready for the day. My friend, Jessica, ran up to me and said, "Did you hear terrorists flew planes into the World Trade Centers?"
*I really didn't know what a terrorist was until this day. I knew what the word 'terror' meant, so I assumed 'terrorists' wasn't good.  
*I had never heard of the Twin Towers before.

Once she told me this, it was like the hallways of our middle school were filled with whispers and cries about what was going on in our country. I still didn't realize the severity of what was going on. I shrugged it off and went to homeroom. Our teacher brought in a TV and this is where my heart sank. I remember the feeling I had watching the planes fly into the towers. My teacher standing with his hand over his mouth. Some of my friends crying around me from fear. The intercom going off calling kids to the office to checkout. I wanted to checkout. I still wasn't quite sure what was happening, but I knew I wanted to be with my mom.

September 11, 2001 was the first time in my life that I realized that our world wasn't as perfect and safe as my seventh grade self thought it was. Don't get me wrong, I knew about "Stranger Danger" and tornadoes that could demolish our house. I mean, if the news mentioned rain my mamaw had all of the grandkids hiding in her closet under the stairs. I knew about those dangers, but knowing that there were people who wanted to hurt Americans was unheard of. I remember the days after 9/11 and being scared whenever I saw a plane in the sky not knowing if it was going to crash into the mall or in the neighborhood I lived in. The fears and anxiety never really went away. My first airplane ride in 2006 to Disney brought back all the fears I had. "Would this plane crash, too?" Our family vacation to New York City in 2010/ 2011 gave me all the anxiety. We tried to get into Times Square for the ball drop on New Year's Eve and I was terrified. There were going to be thousands of people in such a small area. If someone wanted to hurt us then that would be a perfect time. The subways had me nervous. All the anxiety because of people who wanted to send our country a message of hate years before.

16 years later and I won't lie... I still have some of those fears. I think that day changed the way many of us (at the time) kids perceived our world. Our world opened up. It wasn't just 'small town Arlington' anymore where nothing bad happened. We lived in a big, sometimes scary, world. I learned that there is going to be hate everywhere, but I have to be the one to teach my children about love. They will be the change.


"Hate: it has caused a lot of problems in this world, but it has not solved one yet." Maya Angelou