What I most remember about September 11, 2001 is the day after. I had to teach in my first grade classroom on September 12. I wondered how I was going to explain such horror to my first-graders, especially when I didn’t understand it myself. They just kept asking why: Why would someone want to hurt so many people? Why would they want to hurt themselves? Then a fighter jet from the local Air Force base rumbled overhead as it patrolled the Boston sky and I saw fear on their faces. That’s what I remember most---six year olds looking up at the ceiling, wondering if a plane was going to crash down onto them, too.
--from One Good Egg
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I remember the sound of those Air Force planes flying around the Boston area. The first time one flew past our office building, someone screamed. They were so loud and so close.
I hated how on-edge we all felt. I can't imagine how the little ones were feeling.
I had a similar experience on Sept. 12th. It was my second week in a classroom, I was teaching a 1st grade music class, and over the loudspeaker came the principal's voice advising the faculty to immediately close all windows, because the wind had shifted and the smoke from Ground Zero was drifting towards us, and they were unsure if there were chemicals in the air. The look on those kids faces I'll never forget-uncomprehending fear, anxiety and pain. And then the questions: "Are we going to die? Is there another plane coming?" And I felt powerless, not only because I was a new teacher, but because I was just as frightened and anxious as they were.
I'll never forget it. Ever.
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