Nine years ago today I was nine years old and I lived in a Green Apartment. It would be five months before we moved from to Utah. Some people flew planes into buildings and I didn't know why it was a big deal.
I first heard the news when my ride to school came that day. My friend's father said someone had purposely crashed an airplane into the Pentagon. I didn't know what "the Pentagon" was (what did a shape have to do with anything?) but it the way he said it, I knew it was important, so I tried to look very serious and pretended I knew what he was talking about.
When we got to school, we didn't do very much in my 4th/5th grade class. Mostly people talked about how surprising it was that someone would do this (do what? I wanted to know. Why were these building more special than any other news story?). The teacher turned on the TV in our classroom and kept it on the news all day. Eventually I understood at least a little.
I leave you with a tribute. Please keep in your thoughts today all those who lost their lives, families, friends, and peace of mind that day. Let us not forget.
