10 Years Ago...

 

{Every year, since the towers fell, the New York skyline has been lit up with 88 lights, in remembrance of those who died.}

I was 7. My mom was braiding my hair, my dad was downstairs eating breakfast, watching the news like any normal morning. 

Out of no where, he shouted for my mother to come downstairs, immediately. It couldn't wait. 

Abandoning the braid, she ran down the staircase, as my dad never sounded this urgent. Following her down, my brush in hand, I saw the TV, the smoke rising to the sky, the panic on my parents faces. Then my mom started to cry, my dad stared intently at the screen, never moving his eyes. 

I was late to school that day. The first time I had ever been late. And an hour late at that. I was confused, why was this so important I had to be late for school? What was I going to tell my teacher? I walked into my classroom, the lights were off, my teacher was on the phone crying, and the 6 other kids in my classroom were watching Reading Rainbow.

That's all we did that day.

I remember my teacher crying into the phone, other teachers coming in, a few kids from another class joining ours.

I think that's when I realized the world wasn't just my small little town. The world was much bigger than what I could see.

Of course, I imagined the people around the world, but that's all it was. Imagination.

Now it seemed so real.

Too real.

Never Forget.