Where was I the day the Towers fell? I was in school. I was in kindergarten.
I got to school and thought it was a normal day. I was happy with my Crayons and simple math. Then our teacher got the message to turn on the news, and a room full of 5-year-olds watched a plane crash into a building.
A group of children not understanding the sick feeling in their guts but knowing that it was there. A room full of kids terrified without any knowledge of why we were so scared. We didn't know what suicide bombers were. We had never heard the term "Kamikaze." We didn't know what terrorism was. All we knew was that someone crashed into a building.
I won't ever forget it. For as long as I live, I won't forget. The look of shock and terror on my teacher's face. How she clasped her hands over her mouth and cried. How we all crowded together and just watched with macabre fascination because we didn't know what was going on. My stomach dropped when I heard where it was. All I heard was "New York" and I was five-years-old.
I couldn't differentiate between the New York I was from and New York City. All I knew was that my Grandma and Grandpa Roselle were up there and I thought that they were hurt. I had, and still have, so much family up in Western New York, and I couldn't understand the difference. I cried the entire day.
When I got on the bus, my brother tried to tell me that Grandma and Grandpa were fine, but I wouldn't listen to him. I remember thinking " how could he know?" I remember getting off the bus and still crying. I hugged my mom and kept crying. I was screaming and crying and asking if Grandma and Grandpa were OK, and mom kept telling me yes, they were fine. I still didn't believe it. How could I have? I had watched this horrible event on TV all day. Mom had to call them for me. I had to sit and talk to Grandma for....well, I don't even know how long. I remember constantly asking her if she was sure that they were OK.
I will never forget where I was that day. I was in a classroom at 5-years-old and I was terrified that my family was hurt or dead. I remember watching the footage and seeing the people falling out of the tower. I remember the smoke on the TV screen. I remember being so thankful that my family wasn't hurt and then the instant feeling of regret that came with the realization that others weren't so lucky. We're older now. We know the terms "suicide bomber" and "Kamikaze" and "terrorism" now. We will always remember. We watched the Towers fall and we will never forget.
