Around 9:10 my class was sitting on the rug about to start our social studies lesson. Mrs. Quinn another 5th grade teacher walks into the classroom and calls Mrs. Alipour (my 5th grade teacher), over. She whispered something in her ear and then left. Mrs. Alipour kind of just stood there and then looked at what was left of the class. She told us to pack our things up quickly and line up at the door; we were getting dismissed early because there was a major accident in New York City. Now my class was kind of excited because this was something we never experienced before so we all buzzed about leaving school before 10:00. I was at the front of the line with my best friend Olivia and we were trying to guess what could have happened in the city. Olivia said a giant car pile up or a bridge fell. I thought about it and said "maybe a building fell, how scary would that be?" As I was saying that Mrs. Alipour gave me a look of shock and that's when I knew something terrible was wrong. Leaving school was like a war scene. Parents were at the front entrance grabbing their kids. I saw my neighbor and she told me to go with her and of course I went because she was my emergency pick up, plus her daughter, Kerry, was in my class. She ushered us into the car where she told us what happened. Kerry's dad was a firefighter down in the city and they were all freaking out. I got to Kerry's house just in time to see the first town fall.
Each school bus had a teacher on in to make sure that each child had an adult to pick them up. The bus circled my development a bunch of times to wait for the parents to get home. If the child was not picked up by the last round they were all brought to the high school where they had to wait for a parent or guardian to pick them up. I remember standing on the edge of Kerry's driveway as the bus was stopped there. My next door neighbors Ashley and Neil were hanging out the window talking about what they had heard. I ran up to their window and they asked me what was going on. I told them someone flew into the Twin Towers in the city and one of the towers had just fallen. That was the most I could say because the bus pulled away. I still remember Mrs. Fiscer was the teacher on my bus.
The whole day I was at Kerry's house. We were all in her living room watching the news. I saw the second tower fall and the other plane crash sites. I remember watching people jump out of the tower windows and I remember people screaming. A lot of things were burned in my head where I still have flashes of it. I had nightmares for awhile of the people jumping out of the windows as the towers fell. My dad was able to get in contact with Janet (Kerry's mom) to make sure I was okay. Eventually my mom came in got me, her school was the only district that didn't get out early. Her principle came over the loud speaker and told them a play by play of what was happening. (I personally think looking back now that was a terrible idea scaring everyone and telling them they had to shut their blinds. My mom said because of those announcements her class freaked out and cried the whole day because all the adults were trying to watch the news.) My mom and Janet talked for awhile and my mom watched the news. We went back to my house where she was on the phone the rest of the night. She talked to my grandma who lives in Manhattan to make sure she was okay because she lives a few blocks away from where the towers once stood. My grandma saw the second plane hit the tower and everything after. I was glued to the TV. I remember my living room windows were open and I hear Ashley running from next door. She was screaming when she got to my front door. She ran inside screaming her uncle was on the 89th floor of the South Tower and no one had heard from him.We spent all night together watching the news. Ashley eventually got a phone call to my house saying her uncle made it out and was okay.
My mom talked about what had happened so I wouldn't be afraid. Going to school the next day was really rough because half the girls in my class had fathers who were cops or firemen. Their dads didn't make it. My town got hit hard with people who had died. School was really weird for the next two weeks because of all the funerals and arrangements that were going on. I remember passing an 8 year old boy in the hallway who had lost his father, he was screaming and crying and the teachers were trying to help him. My town built a memorial and the Girl Scouts, me included planted flowers all day. I've been to the memorial for services of 9/11 and looking at that memorial brings back all the images in my head. It brings the girls in my class who lost their fathers, and it brings that little boy in the hallway bac. I sometimes go and sit there just to think. It's a nice peaceful place. I always say my respect and I wonder how those children are doing.
Washingtonville 9/11 Memorial
I still don't believe it's been 10 years. When 9/11 comes around I feel like I'm still in the fifth grade and the day starts over. I think I remember almost every moment of that day. Sometimes when I see pictures I still get nightmares. After 9/11 my grade in itself became an even closer family an that bond stayed with us all the way to our graduation. They say every generation has a moment of history that stays with them forever. 9/11 is our moment in history.
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