Where I taught and where I still live, is a community within a few miles of TMI, the infamous nuclear power plant. That's a story for another day. But in the days and weeks following 9/11, our students were very aware of fears the next attack might be on a nuclear power station. Those early, eerie days when no planes flew over our athletic fields reminded them of the danger. A number of times, fighter jets were scrambled when someone thought an attack might come. All false alarms, but it shook our young people.
Schools updated their evacuation plans though everyone knows with the traffic situation, our students would have no chance to escape if the worse happened. TMI hunkers in our school district. But despite their fears, those wonderful teenagers showed up to school, studied, played their athletic events and continued life. Terror did not win. I was and am so proud of them.
I don't do political posts on my blog but I do want to say that this day makes me sad for the innocence we lost on 9/11. And it makes me proud of the response of those near me. It makes me grateful I live in the USA and grateful to our allies who joined us in our grief during that time.
Where were you on 9/11? Was it a fearful day where you were?
10 comments:
Hi, Susan,
Thank GOD we continued with living. We must never give into this kind of fear.
I am a New Yorker and was devastated when this happened. I was in Vegas at the time and woken out of a sound sleep by a friend who was in Florida. Her urgency for me to turn on the tv... I saw the second hit and nearly passed out from the shock... I will NEVER forget it...
I am glad to see so many blog posts, FB statuses and Tweets devoted to remembering the pain this day brought. We can't forget the tragedy, or we risk forgetting the lessons we must learn.
You are right. Life does go on. However, I don't think anyone will ever forget where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news. It was horrifying.
I was at work and I'll never forget seeing the second plane hit live.
The response afterwards was amazing. I remember seeing a photo of a street of houses taken before that day, and another photo afterwards with a flag hanging outside of every house.
Like you, Sue, I was teaching that day as well. Only my students were much younger. (fourth graders) They didn't understand why, on such a beautiful day, we were having indoor recess and our doors and windows were all closed.
I was as much in the dark as my students were until after dismissal. And in a way I am thankful for that, since it preserved my innocence as well as theirs for a few precious hours more.
I hope the younger generations also remember where they were on 9/11. I saw so many touching posts and videos today I teared up a dozen times.
We were at home, when it all unfolded. We live by Niagara Falls, so that same fear was going through all of our heads, too.
Fortunately I was far away in Maine but we listened to the news on the radio at work, I remember. What a horrifying day.
9/11 affected everybody, even people living outside of the US!
I can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing at that precise moment...
Writer In Transit
A defining moment that broke our national heart. I'm late here, but thank you for posting this.
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