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Norway
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Getting started |
Location: Minnesota, USA
Registered: August 2021
Messages: 1
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My Remembrance of September 11th.
Do you remember what happened on this day, September 11, 20 years ago? Do you remember where you were when you heard the terrible news? I do. I remember it clearly, and then I remember the shame that I felt as the day wore on.
I had just started college at a local school in Southern California where I grew up. One class that I will always remember, not by what was talked about in the textbook, but in how the professor taught the class and what he wanted all students to realize about the world around them, to be aware of what was happening. It was a class in psychology, 101 to be exact. I was just getting up from my night's sleep and dreary eyed walked to the kitchen to see what my mom had prepared me for breakfast. There was no breakfast! Mom was in the living room watching television. It seemed like she didn't care about me that morning, so I walked into the living room to see what had her attention so enwrapped.
There were vivid colors on the TV screen showing an airplane crashing into a tall skyscraper. What the hell, I said to myself. But then I realized that this was something the Psych. Prof was wanting us to be aware of. It was something that I could talk about in class, to show how much I was aware.
I went to class that day in anticipation of being the only one in my class who had something to say, only to find out that the school had inexplicitly been closed for the day. I was disappointed that I was not going to be able to get up in class and tell them what I had found out that morning. I drove home in silence, being slightly upset.
When I got home, mom was still watching the television, but she wasn't standing anymore; she had slipped onto the couch with her elbows on her knees crunched forward. I watched as the twin towers of the Trade Center came crashing down. I saw the people running every which way in sheer panic. I watched as the dust cloud enveloped the City of New York. I watched as people cried, openly.
Then a TV announcer said how many people were possibly killed in what I was witnessing. I couldn't get my mind around it; I couldn't fathom what I was hearing. I backed up, slowly to begin with, until I hurried my pace until my back hit the wall behind me and slid down until my ass hit the floor. It was then that I started to cry almost imperceptibly until it became outright sobbing. My Mom ran over to me, took me in here arms and hugged me.
My mind flashed back to what I had been thinking of how elated I was that I had some news to tell the whole class. The shame that I felt over my insensitivity hit me. How could I have ever thought about myself so shamefully.
As the days passed, I heard that I wasn't alone in my shame. Many people had a difficult time trying to rationalize in their minds what a horrific thing had happened. I guess not being alone in my grief was somewhat reassuring to me. I'm still not over it though, and I hope to God I never will be.
My word to anyone reading this, for that matter anyone in this country, is "remember, never forget."
Richard Norway
[Updated on: Sun, 12 September 2021 01:41] by Moderator |
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