Nine Eleven

I was in the second grade on September 11,2001. I was living in my grandparent’s house in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico.

I remember it vividly when there was a sudden panic at school during class. I can see the teachers going from room to room talking to one another. My teacher walked back into the classroom and decided to turn on the old dusty TV that was hanging on the left corner of the room.

She right away flipped through the channels looking for something that I didn’t know quite yet. She stopped right on the news channel where they were playing footage of a helicopter circling around buildings that were on fire.

I had no clue of what was going on or where this was taking place, but I know that it was bad by the reactions of the elders around me. It was a sudden change of mood and you can feel the very chilling vibe and wave of emotions that were circling the school.

They made us all meet in the middle of the basketball court in front of where the stadium was located. The principal then approached the podium and began to announce that the day was being cut short and our parents were being notified to pick us up. At this point we were instructed to wait and hang out as our names were called when our parents arrived.

Looking around you can tell that just like myself as an 8-year-old none of the kids had any clue of what this day was going to be in today’s history.

I walked around looking for my uncle which was a year older than me and attended the same school. I found him playing soccer with his friends, so I sat to watch him along with my friends as we waited for our parents to arrive.

About a half an hour later they called our names. We walked towards the gate where we found my grandmother along with my mother waiting for my uncle and myself.

As we made our way home my mother asked if we were hungry. We left school before we could go to lunch, so we had not gotten a chance to eat. I was starving and so I told my mother I wanted “Pino burger” which was my favorite thing to eat.

My mother silently shook her head and we made our way to get our lunch. I could tell something was wrong. I can feel it everywhere. I didn’t ask a thing. I was trying to figure it out myself, but it didn’t make any sense because I had never seen so many people give off the same type energy all on the same day.

We got off at the restaurant where my mother and my grandmother made their way inside. I followed my uncle to the back of the building where the playground was located. We ran around and played for a few minutes before they called us inside to go eat.

We approached the entrance and found my mother and grandma sitting on the last table in the back of the restaurant where the TV was located. I sat excited ready to eat my favorite burger ever as we watched the news. As I was eating the same footage kept playing over and over again.

Many different footage and angles of the same 2 buildings that were on fire. At this time, you could see the same repeating footage of an explosion on the second building. Everyone’s faces in the restaurant were in awe, and their expressions were all so similar. Concerning looks and whispers throughout the tables and among the employees of the restaurant which were now standing behind the tables looking at the TV.

The conversation between my mother and my grandmother was very discreet and they didn’t really say much; but by looking at their faces I could tell they were affected by whatever was going on.

We finally got home after our lunch and I made my way into my room. My mother demanded for me to change out of my school uniform and to begin working on whatever homework I was assigned.

They were in all in one room, my mother, my grandmother, my great grandma (which had just gotten there), and one of my uncles which also lived with us at the time.

They were all surrounding the TV in my grandparents’ room as they just kept watching and listening to the news. I snuck in between my uncle which was sitting on my grandmother’s rocking chair. I sat between his legs quietly trying to understand what was going on.

A few moments later the news anchor began to panic on live TV as the buildings began to collapse. During those moments which felt like they were in slow motion I could see the footage of the buildings falling and a big cloud of smoke began to spread throughout the streets of the city.

I was in shock still not knowing where this was taking place or what was going on, but I knew this was bad, very bad. I looked around and I can see my mother and grandmother crying.

I saw my uncle softly hugging my grandmother and so I made my way into my mother’s arms. At this point I had to ask. “mami what’s going on?” as I looked at her very confused.

My mother then explained that in this world there is good and there is evil. She explained the situation and told me what was going on in New York.

She said no matter how good we are, we have no control of other human beings and just as there are many good people there are also very bad ones.

On this very dark day evil won. On this day a country which wasn’t mine yet lost many lives; and the whole world mourned for them. The whole world stood together as we all watched evil win.

On this very day I understood the many things an evil person is capable of and as a 2^nd grader I also mourned for the many lives that were lost.

From this day on and every year I am reminded of the very dark feeling that I felt on the same day of September 11, 2001.

On this very day I remember those whose lives were lost, and I pray for their families.

On this very day we all stand UNITED not only as a country but as whole human race &  today WE REMEMBER.