Ten years ago today I was a freshman in high school. It was still warm but I wore blue jeans and a t-shirt to school instead of shorts because the rooms were too cold with the air conditioning. I had band practice that afternoon and we were hashing out a new set for the game. My first class was Biology with Mrs. Gurosky and I sat in the middle of the row on the far end of the room. We were talking when the principal came over the PA system and this little brown box told us that a plane had hit one of the world trade towers. I thought it was an accident. To be honest, I didn't even know what the towers were although I had seen them on tv. Within minutes a second announcement told us both towers had been hit.
The rest of the day in every class was spent on the edge of our seats. Some teachers told us it was the beginning of a war. Others told us not to worry. Girls cried because they feared their boyfriends would be called to a draft. Some used cell phones in the bathrooms trying to call family in New York. I worried about my aunts friends. I feared war.
Silent students sat in front of televisions showing the news. It was improbable to believe as the destruction looked like a film. Like it could not be real, except that it was real. Real enough it would define the world my generation grew up in, real enough to change everything.
Where were you?
