Remembering 9-11

          11 years ago, on September 11th, 2001, I was only 5 years old and had just started kindergarten at South School in Glencoe. As I got ready for school that day, I remember watching the news with my family as we ate our breakfast. The planes had just hit the world trade center and I watched my parents react in shock to what they were seeing unfold on the television. My father's family lives in Manhattan, and my uncle worked on Wall Street at the time. Knowing that our relatives lives could be in danger added a more personal dimension to this national disaster. My parents started making phone calls trying to reach our family. No one could find my uncle for most of the morning. Fortunately, he managed to get out of the area safely. While I didn't understand the full impact of what had happened at the time, 9/11 has affected my life in a way that no one had experienced since the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. My parents had grown up in a time where they believed that our country was safe from attack. Even my grandparents were children in 1941, and Hawaii was not New York City.
     Earlier this week, I watched a clip of Laura Bush on the Smithsonian Network, regarding what happened to her on 9/11. As a former teacher and librarian, Mrs. Bush's thoughts were about the families and the children who were also seeing the horror of the towers collapsing. Indirectly, her concerns were for children like myself all over the country. She told the American people to turn off their tv's while their kids were in the room. Small children would see the footage and believe that the attacks on America were still in progress. Watching this video made me realize how much my thoughts about this country were shaped by that day. My parents view of America was that we were a strong superpower that was not vulnerable to attack. The US of their childhood was always on the offense. I, on the other hand, have grown up with the perspective that we are searched in airports. Personal freedom is not an absolute when it comes to "national security". As the anniversary of 9/11 approaches, my thoughts on America remain strong knowing that the values we represent enable us move forward and learn from this experience.

To view the clip of Laura Bush discussing her thoughts during 9-11, click on this video: