At about 12:30 last night, I turned to my friend Callie who was squished onto my twin bed with me and said, "It's September 11th." We laid there quiet for a moment and then I added how crazy it was that the attack on the Twin Towers was seven years ago. I couldn't decide if it felt like it had happened yesterday or thousands of years ago, so much has changed since then. I do know that I felt old... :)
Seven years ago, as an 8th grader, I was sleeping peacefully in my bedroom (in the most comfortable bed in the world) awaiting my alarm to go off. It never did, instead my father, mother, and my older sisters were suddenly sitting on my bed telling me that the two World Trade Center towers had been hit with airplanes. World Trade Center? I didn't even know what that was, let alone know where it was. Our TV was kept on most of the morning as we all got ready for school, and we watched as the other planes crashed in Pennsylvania and into the Pentagon. It was scary but most of the time I just didn't understand what was going on, if it was real, and what it all meant.
The rest of the day was a blur. Lessons in each of my classes were abandoned and every TV and radio was tuned into the destruction that was happening thousands of miles away and yet so close to home. I wish I could voice my thoughts on how frustrated I am that it takes mass destruction to bring our nation together and turn people to each other, but my friend Elise has done a much better job than I could so here's her post on her blog.
I've come a long way in the last seven years from that naive little girl I was. I still don't understand a lick about politics and I get lazy and frustrated when it comes to current events. But I have suddenly found myself in throes with a dear friend who won't let me get away with it anymore. He's actually quite frustrated at my attitude towards what is happening with the world and has taken it upon himself to educate me. Only problem is he's hundreds of miles away, so he's finding it hard to keep me on top of the news. Deep down, though I really do want to be better because what is going on out there has great impact on my life, my family, and me. So I better go read today's headlines before I get reprimanded again...
1 comment:
You know what's even better? Once you're in the same state as politically motivating friends, you won't even have to try to make yourself stop, "getting away with" being ignorant, you'll just be enthralled in amazing thought provoking conversations and off you'll go, never to look at the world the same again! That's what Davey's political activism has done for me, at least :)
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