I went to work at the college and everyone was in a fog. Classes were canceled, but staff stayed because students stayed. We were glued to the televisions in the library. Firemen from next door came over to watch the televisions, and they wept when the towers came down and buried their comrades in New York. We all wept together.
The skies remained eerily silent for a few days as all planes were grounded. We wondered when the next strike would hit. We were scared and vulnerable, but the American spirit stood strong, and in the days that followed in Kennett, Missouri, a group of first graders wrote a storybook about that day and what came after.
September 12: We Knew Everything Would Be All Right is the book they wrote and illustrated. It was published in 2002, so they got it published very quickly. It is now out of print, but you can find it on Amazon for $34.00 in paperback. Hardback copies are a lot more. I was lucky to find one at a book fair the spring after the attacks, so I only paid $3.99.
Youtube video of Michele Keltner, principal at DeSoto Trail Elementary School, reading September 12th.
This little book is quite profound as these little first graders try to make sense of the senseless. They had a teacher who helped them sort it all out and be able to more forward. Although bad things happen, the sun does come out again, and the world keeps on turning.
A New Addition to Our Family
Last year on September 11th, our family received a brand new baby granddaughter, so now September 11th has happy thoughts associated with it. We will always remember where we were fourteen years ago when we realized just how vulnerable we are, but now we will also remember the first cries of our sweet Aria.
What do you remember about the attacks, and how did you find a way to stay positive in the aftermath?
I was on my way to class when my history teacher pulled me into his class room and locked the door. The principal had banned any teachers from allowing us to see what was happening. She didn't want us "traumatized". But he told us this was our Pearl Harbor and if we wanted to leave we could but he wanted us to witness what was going on and have a place to discuss what we were feeling.
ReplyDeleteAnd then Aria like always brought a ray of light to that dark day. I need to get that book!