Remembering

I still remember walking out of my bedroom and having my dad place his arm around my shoulder and tell me that our country had experienced a terrorist attack and that we were at war.  Living in a home where I could see Pearl Harbor, this was very harrowing to me.  I was home-schooled at the time (8th grade) and I watched video tapes as my lessons & lectures, and most of the time I was home by myself during the day because my older brother went to a public high school and my younger brother went to a public elementary school.  My dad worked as a pastor at a nearby church and my mom was a nurse.  Since I had to frequently pause video tapes and change them out for different subjects, I caught glimpses of the news each day.  On this day, my mom called from work to tell me not to watch any TV in between video tapes.  She didn't know that I had just seen the recorded footage of the jumpers.  

Hawaii was 5 hours behind Eastern time and we watched live coverage that afternoon of the thousands of workers who were walking home across the bridges with headlamps on and helping each other navigate in the dark.  I was so hopeful for the families that would embrace these workers when they walked through the door since the family members most likely hadn't been able to contact them during the day.  

In April of 2001, my mom and Nana and I went to New York City for a Broadway trip and we went to Ground Zero while we were there.  Construction crews were still sorting through the rubble.  

In March of 2005, my whole family (including three grandparents) went to New York City to see my oldest brother play in Carnegie Hall with his high school symphonic wind ensemble.  On one of the days, my dad, younger brother, mom, and I went on a sightseeing trip around the city and we stopped at a Burger King near Battery Park.  From the second level, we could see into Ground Zero and construction crews were finishing leveling the ground to begin creation of the memorial. 

I've been to New York several more times since then, and have seen the completed memorial on more than one occasion.  I've been to the top of One World Trade and have looked down at the illuminated memorial in the dark. I've seen the beginnings of the memorial garden for the first responders and survivors who might pass away in the future from complications of breathing in all of the dust created from that day. I've even had the amazing opportunity to see the 9/11 museum and I am so hopeful for a future chance to bring Aaron and my children with me to see it again because it holds so many strong reminders of that day.  

Twenty years is a long time, and I now teach students who weren't even alive until 2005 and 2006.  I hold an immense honor to make sure that this day is treated with respect and that we never forget the Americans we lost on this day. 

God Bless America. 

Until Next Time, 

Much Love, Reba