Ramblings-n-Writings

Archive for September 11th, 2008

9/11 is a day that is forever etched in my memory. I can remember precisely what I was doing when I first read about the attacks, probably much like how my mom remembers what she was doing the minute she heard JFK was shot.

My second period computer applications class in Bradenton, FL, was just starting. The students (Thomas, Jolene and Melissa) were doing their review assignments and I was sitting at my desk. I think my computer had some type of news alert program installed on it (pre-RSS feed days) because I remember seeing the headline… “Cessna crashes into World Trade Center.”

I clicked on the story, which I want to say was a NYTimes / AP article. I read the short article that basically said a small engine airplane crashed into the building in New York. No details were known. This was around 9 a.m.

I mentioned the article to my three students which prompted quick research about the towers – they had never heard of them and my knowledge was pretty vague. We all found it weird that a small engine plane got so far off course and ended up in NY City. Then the bell rang to end class and I put the “accident” out of my mind.

My next memory is from chapel about an hour or so later. Our administrator somberly told the junior and senior high students and faculty what had happened. I want to say that someone brought a tv into the room to show some of the newscast, but I don’t know for sure. What I do remember is Emily, a sophomore, crying. After chapel, we learned that her mom was supposed to be in one of the towers that morning.

Something that wasn’t mentioned in front of the students was the fact that President Bush was just a few miles away in a Sarasota elementary school. If the people who hijacked the planes were aiming for the president, which was the belief at the time, then we were in harms way.

The day was definitely sober. The usual lessons were put aside, and in English class we discussed and wrote about the implications, feelings, and questions that weighed heavily on our hearts.

Emily went home for the day waiting to hear from her mom. We prayed. Her mom, who had an early morning meeting scheduled in one of the towers, arrived at the towers but, due to a larger than expected crowd for the meeting, was put on a bus to a new location in New Jersey. As the bus crossed the bridge to New York, the riders saw the planes hit the towers. I can’t imagine.

God is good. We don’t know His reasons or His plans, but God is good.