Remembering 9/11

My sister, Lynette, bought the fabric in Denver so that we could each make and quilt a wall hanging as a remembrance of September 11, 2001. Lynette celebrates her birthday on September 10th. She expressed to me her gratitude that her birthday occurred the day before and not on 9/11.

Yesterday as I was cleaning wood floors I was lamenting to myself that they didn't look so new anymore. I clicked through the calendar of my mind to check how old that floor really was and as I went through the memorable events that keep that mind calendar in order, I stopped at 9/11. Yes, the wood floor was installed the summer before 9/11. That floor deserved to show some use. It was 10 years old!

Just like I can reflect on where and who I was during the Cuban Missile Crisis or when JFK was assassinated or his brother Bobby shot down in LA, I will always remember 9/11. In fact, it is probably the most memorable of my national memories, perhaps because I was an adult or more probably because it was horrific for so many and made us all feel so vulnerable.

The TV was on in my bedroom tuned to the Today Show as I prepared to leave that Tuesday for a brand new Augusta Ranch Elementary where I was the new librarian. I listened in horror as I dressed, combed my hair, and prepared to leave the house as the events in New York played out live. I remember driving the 12 miles or so east on the US 60 feeling so numb. Our numbers that day were lower as many parents elected to keep their children at home. I remember the drive home that afternoon without one jet in the sky heading for Sky Harbor. Here I was almost 2000 miles away and yet it was so hard to process mentally what had happened, what was happening.

Fridays at school were Spirit Days. Usually that meant wearing your Augusta Ranch t-shirt to school on Friday. After 9/11, it was announced that a special spirit day would be held that week and that we should wear red, white, and blue to show our support and respect for those affected by the current events. Unfortunately, that day was also a previously scheduled fire alarm practice (unknown to the students.) As I left the Library and headed outside to the playground, my first thought was, "These lines of students will look like targets for a terrorist." And then I saw something that made my heart turn and my eyes water.

Augusta Ranch Elementary was home to a very diverse population. The English language learning program was servicing students speaking 13 different languages. As I watched the students stream out from the building my eyes were drawn to two brothers of Middle Eastern descent. They were searching each other out and they were dressed head to toe in brand new red, white, and blue clothing. I could tell that their parents had made a special effort to show that they supported the United States of America. Tears flowed as I realized that these parents were trying to protect their sons from hate and prejudice. They had purchased new "armor" so that their sons might be protected in this new reality.

That will always be my most personal memory of that week 10 years ago. As a parent I could understand parental love and the need to protect one's own. My mother's heart wept for everyone.