9/11, 2001, by Timo Gomez

From MemoryArchive

Who: Timothy Gomez
What: Terrorist Attack 9/11
When: 9/11/06
Where: Illinois

Back in '01 I was a student attending a Catholic Grade School in Illinois. I remember waiting for classes to start, and watching two of my teachers fervently talking to each other. I was in 6th grade, living in my own bubble that consisted of my family, my friends, and walking a couple blocks to our local movie theater (all the cool kids had their older siblings drive them), so if anything was out of the ordinary that day,at least at first, I didn't notice it. Therefore the attention the two teachers were making didn't really go noticed by me, the teachers were the best of friends, and it was not uncommon for the to have small rambling arguments among themselves. But I kept hearing the words "New York"and things like "They" and "Horrible". I really didn't associate those words with anything, just kept doing my quiet reading, slightly oblivious to everything else. My first class started and there was this kid who was talking about what was going on in New York, and again I didn't even notice, and assumed that he was talking about a summer trip or something. In my second class of the day, a teacher came and my an announcement that we were going to have an assembly somewhere around lunchtime, and that the rest of the faculty should make the necessary changes in their schedule. At the assembly, our principal was trying to explain the situation, that there was a terrorist attack on the twin towers in New York. Now I knew what and where the twin towers were, but I wasn't really sure I understood. Terrorist attack? Really? In America? It all really didn't make sense to me. I kept asking myself why would that happen? Isn't America like the strongest country ever?? When I was done with school I took our small little catholic school bus home and was surprised to see my two parents watching the News. Now both my parents worked and were often not home until later at night, so it was a little weird seeing them on our couch in the living room at around 4pm. Me and my sister sat down and they, in great detail told us what was going on in great detail. "Act of Terrorism" suddenly became a new word in my vocabulary. My parents explained that when they lived in the Philippines there were multiple acts of terrorism, and that is why they moved here to the US, so me and my sister could grow in a country that was safe, and all the opportunities that we now had. They kept going on and on about the unnecessary violence and poverty. And I remember how nervous both of my usually relaxed and happy my parents were usually were. And thats when I realized that what happened today could be the catalyst that starts something that I had never ever experienced or been part of, change.