At the bottom of the night

It was just another morning at South Knoll Elementary School, not too long after school started (class started at 7:50 AM in those days), when the phone rang. Usually it was used for teacher-teacher communication (most announcements were done over the PA), and I still remember the genuine shock on her face as she learned that a plane had crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers.

I had heard of the World Trade Center...it was an iconic New York City building, seen it in pictures, but never really considered it.

She turned on the TV: a plane had crashed into one of the towers, creating an ugly burning area in the center of it.

Clearly, I thought, this was a pretty serious accident. Definitely would make the news tomorrow, but it's going to be repaired eventually (after all, years earlier, a plane managed to hit the Empire State Building accidentally, and the building survived).

As she sent us off to gym class, they just sat there, watching.

Only in the afternoon she told us what happened: both towers had been hit and collapsed. I couldn't believe it.

I went to a friend's house that afternoon (as was common, my mother worked a bit late on that day), and continued watching the footage on the TV at home (Tuesday afternoon cartoons had been cancelled...and WB/UPN didn't usually have news).

My mother shielded me from a lot of the tragedy: she would not let us see many of the pictures taken (including, but not limited to, The Falling Man).

I never learned the true tragedy of September 11th that day.

Since that day, I learned more about it. I saw pictures. I've heard people talk about what happened. The harrowing tales of escape from those burning buildings. The incredible heroism of the firefighters and the passengers of Flight 93. The economic recession that followed. The monstrosities of these terrorists, and even the so-called "Truthers" on our own hometurf, which only helped to undermine the efforts to find and punish those responsible.

I do wish the September 11th attacks had never happened. It permanently altered everything that would follow. Wouldn't it be nice to just drop bags on an airport scanner and just relax for your flight, no more taking off your shoes and letting some surly TSA agent feel you? Maybe some things released post-9/11 would be more successful. The Nintendo GameCube and The Shops at Willow Bend both suffered post-attack. The economic recession doomed Service Merchandise and didn't help Kmart prospects much. It destroyed The Mall at the World Trade Center, as it was destined to be an upscale mall.

But that's enough. Please, remember what happened 10 years ago this day.