Hit By Reality

On the day of the 9/11 attack, I remember being outside on the playground for recess. I was playing a game called Sandman when my older sister and her friends came up to me all talking at once. They were explaining how terrorists had bombed the CN Tower in Toronto. I was only in Grade five at the time so I was quite confused and did not have much of a reaction to it. After recess was over and we were all rushing into our classrooms, all of my classmates frantically yelling questions about the crisis to my teacher. Since I was the source of all of the commotion, my teacher then took me into the hall and was very upset about me spreading false information about the event. Word had spread through the school and had everyone thinking that Canada was under attack. I remember my classmates and I feeling very mad because no one was telling us what was going on. It was only the older students that were being able to watch the news on the television. Our teacher told us that we would have to hear about the tragedy at home at a more appropriate time. So right when I got home, I ran to the couch and watched the news with my parents. I did not understand a lot that was being said, but I do remember the images being shown of the twin towers crashing to the ground. These clips were being played repeatedly on each channel. For the next few weeks, information on the attack was shown on the front page of every local newspaper. My dad had saved the articles and still keeps them in a file today. He says that he wants to be able to look back on the tragic day and for me to show my kids in the future.

Even today, I read victims losses and experiences of 9/11 in articles of the magazines I purchase. Stories of lost love ones, racism, and personal feelings are shown in these articles. This makes me look back on the terrible day and has me thinking about how big of an impact this day had put on many peoples lives. At the time it happened, I was unaware on how big this day had changed lives, but I now see how the 9/11 attack will be remembered throughout history.