September 11

By: Chris Caldwell

September 11, one of the worst days in our nation's history, caused me to make a memory that I will never forget. I was at school with all my friends, sitting through another boring Tuesday. I went to elementary school at Calhoun, and Tuesday was the day that some of us went to Project Challenge over at the Adult Ed. building. I remember being in Mrs. Forrests' PC Math Class when there was a knock at the door. Mrs. Forrest stepped outside and, like normal, we all started talking. I heard a loud gasp before she came back inside. Shockingly though, she didn't tell us to be quiet when she came back in. All she had was a mixture of a shocked and scared look on her face. She told us to pack up immediately because we were going back to school. Everybody was confused, but we were glad to get out of there. I hated Project Challenge.
When we returned to school, Mrs. Self, the Principal, was waiting for us. She had the same mixture of fear and shock on her face. She was very quiet, and when everybody was listening, she then told us," For those of you who already know, our nation has fallen under attack by terrorists. Don't be scared, but go to your rooms and gather your things, we are going to have an early dismissal." Suddenly I realized it, something terrible had happened today. I had no clue what though.
Since it was Tuesday, my grandfather picked me up from school. My grandpa was a depression kid, and was around when Pearl Harbor was bombed. I hoped that he would explain what was going on to me. When I got in the truck though, he didn't say his usual, " How is it goin'?" He was quiet. Almost a creepy quiet. I had never seen him like this before. Once he finally started talking he asked me, " Do you know what the twin towers are?" I politely answered, " No sir." My grandfather had almost a relieved look on his face. "Well," he said, " the Twin Towers are in New York, and they were hit by airplanes that were hijacked by terrorists." That was all that he said the rest of the way home.
When we got to my grandparent's house, my whole family was there, even my parents. They were all watching the TV. With my mind wondering about everything, I decided to watch and figure out what all was going on. After a while got sick of all the tragedy around me. I decided to go into the bedroom in the back of the house to watch cartoons. I turned the TV to channel 51, which should have been Cartoon Network. To my surprise though, it was being run over by CNN which was broadcasting live from New York. Sitting down slowly, I decided to watch. At first it made me very angry, then sad. There was no way that I was going to get out of watching this. The headlines read, " AMERICA ATTACKED!" in huge, red letters. I saw those gigantic towers, tall and majestic, collapsing and I thought, " so many people in there." Then I noticed that I was tearing up.
That day is a day that I will never forget. I don't believe that it will be the last time that we have to deal with terrorists. I am glad to know though, that our country has taken great strides in defense, both in Border Patrol and Airplane Safety. The U.S. has come a long way sense that Tuesday, which went from a normal, boring Tuesday to a day that we will remember forever. We have come a long way, and we will continue to do so.