9-11 Memories

9-11 

Who all remembers when 9-11 struck? 

I do. 

I was in the 5th Grade at Sullivan's Island Elementary. That would make me around what? Lets see....wow...just did the math. 

I was 10. I was a decade old when I first experience one of the most earth-shattering historical events I've ever witnessed and the images from that day are forever ingrained into my head. 

This is my memory and a tribute to all those who where lost. 

It was the morning and we were leaving the library to return to homeroom. I was really nervous about the school I was at cause I was still really new there and was still having some trouble making friends. I think the only person I really talked to at that time was my friend Dan. (who I am still friend with till this day) 

Knowing us at the time, I think we were talking about Halo and the fun we had at Dan's birthday earlier that month. 

Thats when one of our teachers came running up to get us, but she didn't go straight to us kids. She went to the head librarian and told that a plane has crashed in New York. Now for my little head, I imagined a big ol' jet landing on a street in New York and the wings cutting building ups in a very cartoony and 10 year old matter of imagining devastation. The urgency in her voice though I remember was something I've never heard from adults. I think thats when I first saw (or at least witnessed) the look of fear on an elder. 

We were then quickly escorted down to our homeroom and I think we watched a news reel of New York. On top of one of the buildings, there was fire. 

The rest of the school memory was of confusion cause we were suddenly let out of school and our parents were picking us up. My mom got me and we went to go pick up my little brother at a friends. When we got there, we found out my brother got bit in the eye by a wiener dog. He's okay and still has his eye to this day, but while the world seemed to be falling apart else were, 10 year old me was terrified for my wounded baby brother. We took him to our neighbor who was an eye doctor and she stitched him up and had me take care of him. I read him stories of dragons from a book that I recently got and it was nice reading to him. I read one of my favorite Dragon stories where dragons are actually the origins to cats. 

My little brother fell asleep and I went back home. I went upstairs to watch my afternoon cartoons, but it was on the news and showed the first and second plane it. It was so weird. I at the time had already begun to watch and love Godzilla movies and other city destroying creature features. But this was different for me. At the time I couldn't explain but now I think I understood why I was so freaked by it. 

Man was doing this. Human beings were doing this. For a long time, I had only see man be good and the concept of evil or murderous was just something I could see in movies and books. But there it was. On the news. It would be even longer for me to learn of the terrors of what racism, hatred, and corruption would do and be the ultimate aftershocks of what those two towers left in their rubble. 

That evening, my mom took us to Sticky Fingers (A BBQ joint) and as I ate my chicken fingers...I saw the news. Earlier I had seen the towers fall, now I was seeing the towers fall from the ground and the dust and rubble that spread through the lower portion of New York. Those clouds of dust. 

Just plan ol' spooky. 

And then my memories of that day end. The world was changed. It was shaken to its core and people I think are starting to rise sword and shields in a manner of corrupted justices. 

But I won't get into that. Want I want you as a reader is to take a moment of silence and live today for peace. 

~The Silly Wanderer~