Remembering 9/11

Well, as everyone knows, today is the 7-year-anniversary of 9/11, one of the saddest days in American history. I still remember that day very well. I was 9 years old and in 4th grade at the time that it happened. For all of us elementary-schoolers, it was an especially scary day- everything was totally normal, and then all of the sudden our teachers began to act really strange- we saw them all whispering to each other with worried looks on their faces, but they wouldn't tell any of us what was going on. Tons of people were being called down to the office for early dismissal because their parents wanted to come get them. But still, no one would tell us what happened. But we knew something was very wrong. Finally at the end of the day (my parents didn't pick me up, and my mom later told me that she figured I was safer at the school than anywhere else) our principal came on the intercom and told us that something very bad had happened, but that she didn't want to talk about it, so she told us to talk about it with our parents when we got home. I remember that as my neighbor and I were getting off the bus, my neighbor told me that she knew something about what was going on, and that it was something about "murderers and a plane crash" (I have no idea how she figured this out, perhaps she overheard some of the teachers?) so that really worried me. So finally I walked into my house and my parents were watching the news. That's when I saw the footage of one of the planes ramming right into the World Trade Center. I couldn't believe my eyes and I asked my parents what was going on. My mom explained to me how these terrible men from another country who hated us hijaked the planes. That was when I first learned about terrorists. I remember being overcome with sadness thinking of all those people who died, and I felt angry that anyone could be so evil and kill innocent people. Even though I was fortunate enough to have not lost a loved one in any of the crashes, it was still one of the saddest days ever, as it was for most Americans. One thing that we can be very thankful for is that we're very protected now, and we're making sure nothing like this ever happens again. May all the victims of this horrible tradgedy and their families be at peace.