Blog 2 Response to Gillian

I can remember this happening when I was in the fourth grade as well. I can remember the sadness I felt then as it was reported daily on the news as they searched the rubble.
I didn’t have cable then, so day after day I would watch it. I can remember getting an eerie feeling then. Even though I didn’t know them, I was deeply saddened as I saw the faces of so many people who had lost their lives. I can remember listening to my parents discussing what had taken place and the effects it would have on our country. I remember it as a time when most of the country came together. I can remember hearing different stories. I remember them talking about the firefighters and the brave passengers who were on the planes. I remember hearing about the different acts of kindness that people showed to one another. Even as a child I couldn’t help but wonder about what I would have done if I were on one of those planes or in one of those buildings. I really didn’t want to think about what I would do if I had lost one of my love ones. My heart went out to those who had. I can truly say that I had a lot of questions and really didn’t understand what had happened or why it had happened. As a child you just don’t think of people doing things to hurt so many people. It’s really hard to understand that even as an adult. It was something that we all would remember. 911 would be forever in our memory as a country. It happened during my life time. I will be able to talk to my children and grandchildren about it someday. I know something about this part of history. Fortunately for me I do not know as much as those who suffered and loss those that they loved so dearly to an act of terrorism. It was a scary time. I wondered if I was going to have to live in fear of more terrorists’ attacks. I had never lived that way before. It would change my way of life as I knew it. I went to New York about four years later and I asked my uncle to take me there. I wanted to see where the towers once stood. I just felt like I wanted to see it for myself. He works in Manhattan and he had been one of those people on the street that day in all the aftermath. I questioned him and I could tell it was something that he did not enjoy talking about. Hopefully nothing as terrible as this will ever happen in our country again. Hopefully a lot of good has come out of some of the bad. I don’t wish for this to happen to any group of people in any country. Time has passed and slowly the country has begun to heal but they will never forget. We should never forget. 911 made an impact on us all. Now, what can we do as Americans to make sure that it never happens again?

Elizabeth Spaulding