I saw the planes for the first time.
I don't know how I've never seen it before. I've heard about it, everyone has, but for some reason, whenever we went over that in class, we saw only pictures of smoke rising over the once clear New York skyline. Only heard numbers, quickly recited before moving on to the normal topic of discussion.
But today, I saw the planes.
I've always thought of them as graceful, soaring above and through the clouds and taking people to far off, distant lands. There was nothing graceful about these planes. Or maybe there was, and that's even worse.
I don't know when I started crying. Maybe it was when I first saw the planes hit. Maybe it was when I saw pictures of people jumping to get out of the flames. Maybe it was when I saw the pictures of people on the ground, powerless to do anything but watch. Just like me, powerless to do anything but stare in horror at the newsreels from before my time covering the event that has defined my time.
When they say never forget, it's not a reminder. It's a promise.
Because I can never forget what I just saw.
I don't know how I've never seen it before. I've heard about it, everyone has, but for some reason, whenever we went over that in class, we saw only pictures of smoke rising over the once clear New York skyline. Only heard numbers, quickly recited before moving on to the normal topic of discussion.
But today, I saw the planes.
I've always thought of them as graceful, soaring above and through the clouds and taking people to far off, distant lands. There was nothing graceful about these planes. Or maybe there was, and that's even worse.
I don't know when I started crying. Maybe it was when I first saw the planes hit. Maybe it was when I saw pictures of people jumping to get out of the flames. Maybe it was when I saw the pictures of people on the ground, powerless to do anything but watch. Just like me, powerless to do anything but stare in horror at the newsreels from before my time covering the event that has defined my time.
When they say never forget, it's not a reminder. It's a promise.
Because I can never forget what I just saw.
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aesythe
Sep 11, 2018
You are spot-on - even without clear memories of these events, we all seem to share a collective memory of them regardless of age. I was in third grade when 9/11 happened, and many things are foggy... but there are images in my head that will never leave. Even if they did, so much of American life is still impacted by those acts committed that day. The wars, the economy, the great social and political upheavals in the Middle East still occurring at this very moment... it's all related, and not something we can easily push away and forget. There was one line in this ("Just like me, powerless to do anything but stare in horror at the newsreels from before my time covering the event that defined my time.") that fully encapsulated that idea of interconnectedness and our understanding of the past. Well said.