The day that changed everything

It was a typical Tuesday morning.  I had just gotten off safety patrol and was walking toward my fourth-grade classroom.  I passed the teachers lounge on my right and noticed a lot of people huddled around the TV.  Figuring it was a cooking special on the Today Show or something, I proceeded to walk to class.  I hung my backpack up in the cubbies outside the room and placed my coat on the hook next to it.  My best friend Brenna met me at my backpack and asked me if I had heard.  Heard about what?  Did it have something to do with all the teachers in the lounge around the TV?  I was pretty confused.  The second I walked into class, my teachers, Mrs. Dinslage, hushed us and told us to sit.

There were two TVs on in the classroom, and each consumed by a camera shot of a burning building.  At the time, there was only one burning building and the other seemed to be fine.  Our teacher explained to us that there was a terrible plane crash in New York that hit an important building called the World Trade Centers.  We were all listening attentively to the TV when all of a sudden; a second plane ran into the other tower.  You could hear gasps occurring all down the hallway of the school.  What the heck was happening?  All I knew is that two buildings were on fire and that my teacher was crying.  I didn’t understand how life changing and world-changing that event would be.

Some time later, we also witnessed the buildings fall to the ground.  At that point, some of my classmates even started crying.  I had never seen anything like this before in my life, besides perhaps in a movie.  After the buildings fell, Principal Druu came on the intercom and asked the teachers to please excuse any student whose parents arrives to take them home.   Nothing allowed us to continue on with the day.  We sat in complete silence for about ten whole minutes before Mrs. Dinslage asked us to take out a piece of paper.  We were told to write for five minutes about what we just witnessed.  She ensured us that we will want this when we were older.  I remember writing about how one minute I was on safety patrol and the next minute the whole world was watching as two buildings were attacked.  Little did I know, the whole world would change.

As the day went on, our teacher updated us with news about the attack.  Many of my classmates were pulled from school, and we weren’t allowed to go outside for recess.  I knew we were restricted from going outside due to the attack, but I later learned it was also because the President of the United States was hiding out in Omaha, Nebraska.  You may be wondering why, but Omaha, in fact, has a large air force base located in the suburbs that is complete with a building located nine-stories underground.

That day will always be engraved in my head, and I’m sure I will live to tell my grandchildren this one day.  At that moment in time, I had no idea how serious the matter was and that it would change the world forever.