Remembering September 11th 16 Years After Tragedy

Remembering September 11th 16 Years After Tragedy

How is it possible that we’re coming up on the sixteen years since one of the worst tragedy’s that our nation has ever seen. It’s amazing to me that even though I was merely a child I remember it like it just happened. It was the in a lot of ways the point and time when the children of that generation lost their child-like innocence in the face of such a disaster.

September 11th, 2001, I remember I was eleven years old and had just started the 6th grade a few weeks before that. As I sat at the computer in our first “wheel” class of the day, I remember an eerie feeling that began to creep over the schools as the teachers began to talk in hushed whispers, scurrying from classroom to classroom. We students were oblivious to the fact that the first tower had been struck. To be completely honest I didn’t even know what the world trade centers were at the time, and I sure didn’t know what the Taliban was, Nor did I understand the chaos that our country was about to ensue.

As the whispers became louder, I remember the teacher telling us to stop our timed typing because the principle was too soon make an announcement. As the nervous buzz, filled the hallways and walls the announcement was made that one of twin towers were hit, and all teachers were to keep their students inside the rooms. Televisions were turned on as the news began to air the unfolding devastation, and then when it seemed things couldn’t get worse the second plane was seen careening into the second tower. Terror began to unfold and I began to feel this deep sadness and aching in my soul as I knew something terrible had just begun. The teachers finally turned off the tv’s and the classes resumed as normal, yet I remember you could just feel the unease of the whole student body.

At eleven years old, you usually worry about which lip gloss is the best or which boy was the cutest. You worry about if mom is going to let you watch cartoons when you get home or what new boy band song was coming out. That day changed the way we thought. It was the beginning of fear, of not understanding what was happening in our country. It was being worried if a plane was going to crash into something near you. Terror and hatred, sorrow, and devastation contorting our small minds. It’s something I’ll never forget, and I pray that something this horrible never happens for our children to have to experience.  So hold that memory dear and remember all those who lost their lives and how out of the ashes hope arose and forged a new beginning.

I remember hearing a couple of weeks ago that this would be the first year that school books would have the 9/11 in the history sections and it’s amazing to think that we have been able to move forward from this.

Please feel free to share your own memories from that day in the comments.

Hope For Tomorrow

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Comments

  1. I didn’t realize that 9/11 wasn’t in the history books yet. My kids talk about it every year and I just assumed it was in the books they had already.

  2. It was such a terrible day and I live in NYC so I feel the hurt personally. I hope we never forget the devastation and our government tries to protect from anything like this ever happening again.

  3. 16 years? Wow, I can’t believe it’s been that long. I remember that day like it was yesterday. I worked in a coffee shop in the mall. I was so mad that I had to go into work that day, and then I was even more upset that people were at the mall, and not at home watching the news.

  4. Jeanine says

    Can’t believe it’s been 16 years. Definitely a day no one in this world would ever forget. Such a tragedy.

  5. I did not live near NYC when it happened, but remember the day vividly. Now that I do live out here (and have for 14 years), it definitely hits home even more. So many lives I know personally were touched by the events of that day.

  6. I’m from Nevada and was a high school junior, but I live in Tennessee now and my husband and I always think it’s strange how we woke up to the news, but for people on the east coast they’d already gone to work and started their day before it happened. My husband graduated Marine boot camp the weekend of September 8, 2001. So, yeah, his military career turned out a little differently than expected.

  7. Erica says

    It is amazing that kids in high school only know this as history. I moved away from New York City about 6 weeks before September 11th. I remember going to the World Trade Center area a few days before I left. And they had an afternoon concert in the courtyard between the two buildings. Everyone was dancing and singing. And I remember feeling so strongly that I didn’t want to leave NY – it was just so wonderful there. When September 11th happened, the faces of everyone around me on that day just haunted me.

  8. We are known to fight through whatever it is that our nation is facing. It is amazing how much has changed since then. It was devastating to watch the news during that time, heartbreaking even.

  9. everydaythoughtsbybrittany says

    Thank you for taking the time to make sure we all remember those lives lost and the heros from that day. I heard once that we will be the historians who are responsible for sharing the story of 9/11. It’s important that we remember and share our experiences around that day so that we don’t forget and we learn from it.

  10. It is hard to believe that it is already 16 years ago. I talked about it with my kids today and what I remembered.

  11. I love this quote by fighter pilot Heather “Lucky” Penny, who at 25 years old was one of two pilots sent out to sacrifice themselves in ramming the airplane that was ultimately taken down by the brave passengers of Flight 93.

    “Let us never forget. But perhaps more importantly, let us remember: That there are things in this world more important than ourselves. That we all belong to and are part of something greater than ourselves. That our connection is more important than our differences. That inside each and every one of us is that courage and heroism that we were blessed with witnessing that day. That these are not unique or extraordinary qualities, but instead are common and all around us every day.”

  12. It’s one of the reasons I decided to serve the country. It brings out your patriotism which is unfortunate as well, because of the lives that were lost and everything that transpired that day. It’s still as heartbreaking as I remember it.

  13. cvnxena says

    A shocking and terrible day for many, I remember being at school and hearing the news, even around the world it had such a massive impact and effect.

  14. 9/11 is still a day ingrained in my mind. Still brings tears to my eyes when I see the footage.

  15. We watched a documentary on 9/11 last night. it was the first time my daughter had seen a lot of those images.

  16. Like many others I remember exactly what I was doing when I heard the terrible news on 9/11. My husband and I visited the 9/11 Memorial in NYC this summer and it was so moving and gut-wrenching to hear all the first-hand accounts of the people involved.

    There were so many who gave selflessly that day and paid the ultimate price. Although, As Americans, we will never forget such a tragic event, it reminds me of all the brave men and women who serve and protect our great country every day. Thank you for this writing this post.

  17. I remember just like it was yesterday when 9/11 happened. It was a terrible tragedy and the first time I really felt like the people in our country came together to support and love one another. Bless those whose lives were lost and who serve our country.

  18. terristeffes says

    I was a teacher during 9-11 and our principal came in and told us to turn off our tv. I was teaching 5th grade and after she left, one of my students said, she didn’t say we couldn’t be on the computer! We turned it on and listened all day. My students remember that I let them watch and are grateful that they did.

  19. I had just dropped my daughter off to school–she started high school–9th grade and by the time I got to work people were talking about it. Later we turned on a TV and listened all day. I just wanted to go home and hug my family.

  20. It’s been so long after it happened and it was such a devastating tragedy. Many years have passed but still we will never forget.

  21. 9/11 hits way too home for me. I lived in Manhattan when it occurred, and life was never the same. It’s the reason I joined the military years later. Freedom certainly doesn’t come without a price, and hope everyone realizes that.

  22. I was living only 38 miles away on that day. It was just close enough to know a lot of people who were affected. My hometown was over 4 hours away and we lost two of our own that day. Never in a million years would I have ever thought anyone in my home town would have been lost. One was a good friend I grew up with, the other was a friend’s older brother. I remember both families spending months searching for them. Both truly beautiful people gone way too soon and so very young. 🙁 Sixteen years later and I can still feel it like it was just yesterday.

  23. I remember it really well. It was the first year we moved the USA and the whole event seemed like a nightmare.. this just doesn’t happen in the US.. so we thought. Crazy to think it’s 16 years ago!

  24. I remember this day clearly. In Arizona I was on my way to a very early morning class at ASU when I was annoyed by nothing but news on the radio. I flipped through station after station then finally stopped to listen. I sat halfway through a psychology class before the university was closed and we were told to go home.

  25. I will never forget what it was like watching the towers fall. Now my kids are getting to an age where they’re starting to ask questions about it. Always remember.

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