For more than half my life, I have seen terrorism and war.
On September 11, 2001, I was in the first grade. I woke up like it was any other day and went to school. About 30 minutes into class, it happened. “It” was a plane crashing into the North Twin Tower, another into the South Twin Tower, and another in a field in Pennsylvania, all of them hijacked by terrorists. Then not a plane was in the sky. You couldn’t hear the beautiful hum of jets landing and taking off from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. It was a terrifying silence.
Our principal, Mr. Gibbs, came on the intercom to explain the situation. It was hard to understand at six years old. The teachers reacted differently. I didn’t get it until I got home and watched the news. Soon many kids were not allowed to watch TV because of the stress it caused us.
The next couple of days went by with thoughts of what had happened and the terror of what might happen next. All the children at my school got a letter from First Lady Laura Bush telling us not to be frightened.
With the terrorists gone, I thought we would just rebuild everything. But no – a never-ending war just made things worse than before. And here we are seven years later with an empty lot and no towers, and no victory over terrorism. It seems as though this war will go on for years.
To me the whole experience has been like getting an eyelash stuck in my eye that won’t come out; it just keeps getting worse each time I rub it.
On September 11, 2001, I was in the first grade. I woke up like it was any other day and went to school. About 30 minutes into class, it happened. “It” was a plane crashing into the North Twin Tower, another into the South Twin Tower, and another in a field in Pennsylvania, all of them hijacked by terrorists. Then not a plane was in the sky. You couldn’t hear the beautiful hum of jets landing and taking off from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport. It was a terrifying silence.
Our principal, Mr. Gibbs, came on the intercom to explain the situation. It was hard to understand at six years old. The teachers reacted differently. I didn’t get it until I got home and watched the news. Soon many kids were not allowed to watch TV because of the stress it caused us.
The next couple of days went by with thoughts of what had happened and the terror of what might happen next. All the children at my school got a letter from First Lady Laura Bush telling us not to be frightened.
With the terrorists gone, I thought we would just rebuild everything. But no – a never-ending war just made things worse than before. And here we are seven years later with an empty lot and no towers, and no victory over terrorism. It seems as though this war will go on for years.
To me the whole experience has been like getting an eyelash stuck in my eye that won’t come out; it just keeps getting worse each time I rub it.
This piece has been published in Teen Ink’s monthly print magazine.
LonelyAngel
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