where were YOU on 9/11?

(click on post title for more on this photo)

I already blogged about this a while back (so random I know) but of course, since then it has been deleted thanks to my stupid self. but I do want to have this somewhere, you know, for my own historical purposes. I didn't keep a journal at the time this happened and its easier for me to type that write right now.

8 years ago today there was a 2 hour delay for Defiance Public and Parokial due to fog. Now according to the handbook of my tiny elementary school, we were to adhere to the Defiance City Schools delays and cancelations. There were four of us in that school at that time- my brother and I, who lived close to the outskirts of Defiance, Marie who lived in Latty's Grove (a residential area in the middle of Defiance), and Julia, who lived in Bryan. Julia, being from another town, never really heard the delays and cancelations. Marie didn't have TV and rarely listened to the local radio stations, but vic and I? Just like all other kids in Defiance we lived for that stuff- and luckily our parents let us. Our teacher, Mr. Hoover never cared about delays and cancelations- he showed up to school anyway. It was ridiculous- Vic and I would get so many tardies and absences because we followed the cancelations and delays. It wasn't really fair- but it was elementary school. Anyways September 11, 2001 was one of those days.

My dad had gone to work during this delay and was going to come back and get us around 10 to get us to school. Still in my pajamas he called me not long after he had been at work. It began in the usual way- me talking about myself. "yeah I had waffles for breakfast. blah blah. No.. Im not in my pajamas! (lie).... of course Victor is awake (lie)."

"Turn on the news- a plane crashed into a building"

"oh.. yeh yeah okay I might turn that on (lie. I was watching Degrassi or something equally stupid)

Sooo I went about my day, eating waffles, watching TV. Ten minutes later he called back.

"I'm on my way home... are you watching this?!"

"What are you talking about?"

"The plane! On the news!"

"ohh yeah.. yeah I saw that, that sucks (lie)". I could here my dad suck through his teeth- what most dominicans do when they're annoyed.

"Just turn on CNN. Im on my way home".

I ran and woke Victor up so dad wouldn't catch him asleep and turned on the news. I was 11 years old, and I was horrified at what I saw. On every channel- shots of one of the towers of the World Trade Center- the building looked like it had been stung by some awful kind of mosquito with the fire spreading like that, darkening the windows. It was swaying. By the time I had turned on the news, it seemed like every channel was freaking out. Some channels weren't even on the air. a whole lot was going on at this time. Planes were being grounded, there was a lot of panic going on- planes deviating from their course, fire fighters had begun entering the building- it was insane.

Just then there was a second plane- It went straight into the second tower.... and then my dad finally got home. Victor sat on the couch... I sat on the floor... and my dad stood as we all watched as New York City crumbled to the ground. That moment- when the first tower just collapsed... I remember that the most.

We went to school not long after that- I remember flinging the door open in the middle of math class and yelling "they're gone!". Everyone just looked at me "The twin towers..." I just went to my desk and sat down. My brother followed after me and then my dad came in and talked to my teacher. Mr. Hoover looked a little panicky. He hurried to the TV in the back of the room- pulled it out and hooked the cable up. That day all we did was watch the news. It was so bizarre.

I rode the bus home with my brother, Audrey, and Sean that afternoon. We all sat on the trampoline and talked about things too heavy for a bunch of 3-6th graders. "This could have happened to us" we would say.... such a strange day..

I wish I would have kept a journal at this time- a lot was going through my head.

No matter what you believe about 9/11 (the government did it, it was all a lie etc), the truth is that tons of people died that day. It was not a good day and even now when I think about all the stories, all those shots of people jumping out of buildings, anchors covered in ash running away from the disaster- it puts me in a rather melancholy mood. Today I will be praying for the hundreds of thousands of families that are remembering what was probably the worst day of their lives.