We Will Always Remember

They say when something big happens in the world, you always remember where you are when you get the news. My mom told me she was watching her mother iron clothes when the news of JFK's assassination hit the nation. Everyone remembers where they were, what they were doing.

I remember where I was when I first heard that two planes had crashed into the twin towers. I was in 10th grade, in Mr. Hanson's speech class when we got an announcement over the P.A. to come to the gym for an emergency assembly after that period was over.

Crystal Oh, a Korean exchange student had just finished giving a speech about why she came to America to go to school, and all the opportunities she had here that she didn't have in her home country.

Mr. Hanson was just as clueless as we were about the announcement. We all thought for sure that someone was in trouble. In a private school of about four hundred, there was always some drama about someone being in trouble, and when it happened, everyone knew it.

So the bell rang and we all shuffled expectantly to the gym, the halls abuzz with speculation about who'd done it this time. I took a seat high in the bleachers, as my crowd usually did. Once everyone had settled, it was unusually quiet. I remember that they didn't even turn the overhead lights on. The windows high above the gym let in the only light. It was a perfectly beautiful September day, not a cloud in the sky.

Mr. Castle, our principle, broke the silence, I think with an opening prayer, in which his words seemed strange. He was wearing a light yellow shirt and khaki pants and looking particularly stressed. I know these weren't his first words, but the first thing I remember him saying was "Two planes have hit the World Trade Centers in New York." I was confused. Wasn't it some kind of accident? Why would he make such a big deal about an accident?

Then he said something about an attack. My thoughts started swirling like socks in a dryer. What in the world? After that, I can't recall his exact words. I know he said something about the Pentagon being struck, the Naval Academy being shut down, and that all planes had been ordered to land immediately.

We took a moment of silence before we closed in prayer and, I kid you not, the most eerie sound of a plane flying somewhere above us was far off in the silence. Immediately, I think everyone felt a chill.

As we all filed about out of the gym to our next class (mine was geometry with Mr. Seltzer), I think everyone was pretty much in shock. I don't remember talking to anyone, until I saw a girl a year above me sitting in the bleachers crying hysterically. I don't remember her name, but I remember hearing people say that her father worked at the pentagon. The I saw others start to break down. At that point it hit me that my dad works very close to the Pentagon as well, and I started to panic. I tried calling my mom on my cell phone, but I couldn't get through because all the lines were jammed.

Finally I got a hold of her, and don't remember the conversation at all. I think she said she hadn't heard from my Dad, but that she was on her way to get me. I left to wait for her in the lobby, sitting on a bench. As I sat there, and everything hit me, I just started to cry. I was confused and worried and sad for everyone. It seemed like it took an eternity for my mom to get there. I sat there on the bench until the lunch bell rang. A kid in the grade above me asked if I was ok, and I don't even remember what I said.

When my mom got there, I just remember speeding in our old burgundy Aerostar (we called her Viv) to the lower school to get Aaron, the news radio blaring, and the bright sunlight of a beautiful day spilling through the windows. We took a windy, wooded back road to 450 so that we wouldn't hit traffic.

The rest of the day was a blur of sitting on the couch and watching CNN. Finally, we heard from my dad, who had to walk with a mass people over the bridge to get to Metro station. I think he said something about having to carpool with a stranger to get there because most of the major roads were closed. He got home late, but we were all so glad to see him.

It seems like this day still kind of hangs suspended in time. There are some things that I remember so clearly, and some that are all a blur. And years later, after all of the fallout and feelings come to surface, I think there's something we can all say about that day.

We were all Americans. We all felt the pain. We will always remember.