One 9/11 memory

@NJChicaa (115877)
United States
September 11, 2022 7:36pm CST
I usually write extensively about it but I didn't today. I do want to share this memory though. On 9/11/2011 I was a brand new teacher with absolutely ZERO teaching experience and in my second week of teaching. I was working in a low-income district which received a ton of state financial assistance so we had phones in each room that would dial to the outside world, printers for each classroom, laptops to take home, and TVs with cable access. I found out that the Twin Towers had been hit during my off period while I was making copies. I got back to my room to see the news but immediately turned it off when the students arrived. I barely knew how to be a teacher in regular times. I just continued on with the planned lesson for the day. I had incessant calls from the office because parents were taking their children home. By the time my lunch period arrived-2.5 hours or so--I turned the TV on and my world was changed forever. The chyron said "Twin Towers have fallen". I was incredulous. I have lived here at the Jersey Shore for all of my life. It is an hour and a half north on a good day if there isn't traffic. I have great memories of meals in Little Italy, shows on Broadway, the Circle Line, the Statue of Liberty, Wollman Rink in Central Park, etc. The Twin Towers were always just there while growing up and living here. The fact that they were completely GONE in like 2 hours was something I couldn't wrap my mind around. Seeing that skyline has never been the same. I know that there is a now a One World Trade tower with a new name to disassociate it from 9/11. I haven't seen the memorial or the new tower in person. I just remember that moment on 9/11/01 when I turned on the TV and the towers were gone.
6 people like this
3 responses
@marlina (154166)
• Canada
12 Sep 22
Very well described. I was doing my breakfast dishes when I first heard the news on the radio in the kitchen. I ran out to to TV room and there I saw it. It was the end of "innocence" kind of.
@FourWalls (61848)
• United States
12 Sep 22
You were smart to turn it off before the kids showed up. I was working as a medical transcriptionist in a multidisciplinary pediatric office. We were crammed in the break room (which may have held six people comfortably), and one of the psychologists stood guard by the door to make sure no child wandered in to see the news.
@Chellezhere (5363)
• United States
12 Sep 22
I grew up an hour and a half from the World Trade Center and have been in both towers more than once. I do not like the look of the new tower. It's ugly, and it breaks my heart seeing the skyline that way.