Everything proceeded typically through my home routine, my walk to Irving Elementary School, the start of the school day at 8 AM, and the first class of the day, math.
Then I could tell something was terribly wrong by the time math class ended shortly after 9 AM. It had already been a difficult start to the school year, perhaps because the teachers were concerned about sending us, the 5th graders, to middle school, instead of down the hall for 6th grade. The teachers were very strict about checking our out-of-school assignments to make sure they were done, and we'd had to go to a lunchtime study hall as punishment if we didn't complete anything.
My teacher, Ms. Gilyot, and the other teachers had concerned looks on their faces, but weren't saying much. We were supposed to spend a chunk of time working on an essay assignment. Instead, we went outside to recess play. One of the teachers, Mrs. Dionesotes, was on her cell phone talking with someone for a long time.
I saw my third grade teacher, Mrs. Green, leading her class back inside after they had recess play. She remarked that no planes were flying. That sounded alarming, and I thought that something awful happened if no planes were flying.
Around 10:45, we were back in our classroom and spent a little bit of time on our essay assignment before lunch. Ms. Gilyot was elsewhere, so another teacher was in our room to oversee us. She mentioned that something serious had happened and precautions were being taken.
Then we went to the lunchroom at 11 AM for lunch. My second grade teacher, Mrs. LoCoco, at one point blew her whistle to get students to settle down, and she said, "Your teachers will tell you what happened."
While it was a pleasant day outside, perhaps because of the jittery atmosphere, the school staff decided to have us stay inside and watch a movie in the auditorium instead of going outside for recess. It was another lame movie, many of which we often watched when we stayed inside for lunchtime recess.
As we emerged from the auditorium to head back upstairs to our classrooms, I heard one of my 5th grade classmates, who apparently already heard from his teacher, Ms. Brown, about the news, and he was describing to another student about how terrorists had hijacked planes and crashed them into the World Trade Center Twin Towers in New York City. I was so frightened when I heard that because it sounded like an act of war brought upon our country.
It was just after 12 noon when I was back in my homeroom classroom. Ms. Gilyot told us what I had just heard, with a few added details, that terrorists had hijacked planes and crashed them into the Twin Towers and also the Pentagon. I raised my hand and asked what the Pentagon is. She then drew a five-sided shape on the chalkboard and said it's a building near Washington, D.C. that houses the Department of Defense. She then said that she didn't have the mental capacity to do anything related to our typical schoolwork. So all of the 5th graders from the three different homerooms spent the afternoon watching a movie, From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. I had read the book in a previous school year, and didn't like it, but I liked the movie, which coincidentally was set in New York City.
I also recall that one of my classmates expressed concern that her dad was scheduled for a flight that day to Jamaica for business. She later learned that his flight was grounded in Miami.
As the clock drew close to the dismissal time at 2:55, we gathered our things, and Ms. Gilyot said our parents would hug us tight. When I reached the corner of Ridgeland and Harvard, I saw Dad there, who decided to meet me and walk home with me. At that time, he worked close to O'Hare Airport, and because of concerns that the airport could be a terrorist target, all the workers in his office building were sent home early. He remarked to me about how, when the first plane hit the first tower, many thought it was some kind of accident.
Later, when my brother arrived home from Julian Junior High School, knowing of his interest in technology-related things, I immediately asked him if he had heard about the attacks. He replied, "Who hasn't?" While I knew something very serious had happened, hearing my brother's response was the first time it dawned on me that the attacks were an event of such an enormous scale that it would impact the course of history and the way we lived our lives, similar to what happened at Pearl Harbor nearly 60 years prior.
In the next few hours, I spoke with both of my grandmothers on the phone. Grandma Dottie mentioned that some of the news anchors had been on air talking nearly nonstop since 9 AM. Grandma Vel led us in a Hail Mary prayer.
I accompanied Mom on an errand later that evening after dinner. By 7:30, we were back home and all four of us were in front of the TV watching President Bush's live speech from the Oval Office, in the White House that may have been a target of United Flight 93. He had such an eloquent way of responding to this tragedy. He said, "These acts shattered steel, but they cannot dent the steel of American resolve. America was targeted for attack because we're the brightest beacon for freedom and opportunity in the world. And no one will keep that light from shining. Today, our nation saw evil, the very worst of human nature. And we responded with the best of America..." He ended his speech by mentioning the words of Psalm 23, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me." Those words underscored the comforting nature I felt while watching his speech.
Toward the end of the speech, he said, "None of us will ever forget this day." Those words certainly ring true 25 years later.
September 11 certainly marked a distinct shift in the focus of the Bush presidency, underscored by how he was informed of the news while visiting a Florida elementary school to promote his education goals. Certainly, I connect this tragedy so strongly with my childhood because of how it affected the world as I came of age.
There was a heaviness in the days that followed September 11, although I felt life going back to normal quickly since I wasn't directly affected by the attacks, nor was anyone near me. But there were definitely effects that continued. Probably one of the most unfortunate and demoralizing for me was the intensification of the airport security checkpoints. Furthermore, the weight of the day is so strong that those of us who were alive don't even need to add on the year 2001 when referring to September 11. For my family, September 11 would take on added tragic meaning when my cousin's sudden and tragic death happened on the 10th anniversary. Earlier in 2011 was a tragic shooting in Tucson, AZ, at an event hosted by Representative Gabby Giffords. One of those murdered was Christina-Taylor Green, who was born on September 11, 2001, and was motivated by the dubious nature of her birth to strive to find ways to serve her country.
September 11 was a tragedy that speaks to the mystery of suffering and sin. Somehow, good emerges from it. President Bush, in a speech before Congress on September 20, remarked that the state of the Union was strong, as seen by the heroism that emerged in response to the attacks, specifically recognizing Todd Beamer, a passenger on United Flight 93 who rallied the passengers to take back control of the plane from the terrorist hijackers, with the rallying cry, "Let's roll." He then recognized Todd's wife Lisa. About 10 years later, when my brother graduated from Wheaton College, Lisa Beamer was the speaker at the ceremony, which happened days after a special US military operation killed Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaeda leader and mastermind of the September 11 attacks. It was a special experience to hear Lisa Beamer's remarks as she spoke eloquently about living our lives so as to participate in the work of redemption.
It was a heartbreaking experience, especially when I think about all the victims who were doing the normal activities of their lives when they were killed senselessly. And far-fetched scenarios became a living nightmare as we realized we were more vulnerable than we thought we were. Yet it was a time when the resilience of the people of the USA was on full display. A few months later, the 2002 Winter Olympics happened as scheduled in Salt Lake City. Matt Lauer asked President Bush in an interview in Salt Lake City if he ever felt the Olympics shouldn't happen in the wake of September 11. President Bush responded that it was good that the Olympics still happened, because if they didn't, it would be another victory for the terrorists, and he quipped that we wouldn't want them to have any more victories. It was an uplifting experience when a NYPD officer sang "God Bless America" at the Opening Ceremony of the 2002 Olympics.
Someone remarked that the attacks were meant to do us ill, but they brought us together. Indeed, there was a strong sense of unity and patriotism on display in the wake of September 11. It was an environment in which I pondered the profound values at the heart of the USA, and it set me on a path to embrace a strong sense of patriotism.
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