I'll Never Forget

How Could I? How Could Anyone?

I can tell you exactly where I was. AP English with Robin Aufses. Second Row. Fourth Seat. I was 15 years old... in 11th grade. I went to Kennedy High School in Bellmore, NY (Long Island).

The principal came over the loud speaker and told us a plane had crashed into the Twin Towers. It sounded like she was fighting back tears. I don't think we fully grasped what had happened, though. We didn't know what kind of plane or anything like that. A prop plane had crashed into one of the Towers once years earlier, so we didn't know the scale quite yet. Still, we knew that it couldn't be anything light. Not based on the tone of voice of the Principal.

Mrs. Aufses asked us if anyone had family working in the World Trade Center. A few hands went up. Followed by silence. At the time I thought one of my cousins worked there. He worked on the third floor trading copper. Turned out their offices had relocated before that. Which was a sign of relief hours later when I got home and asked my Mom. She'd reached my cousin. He was fine.

The rest of the school day was a whirlwind. In every class we were glued to computer to try to get the latest information. As the day went on we started realizing what was going on. Rumors swirled about that made it sound worse than it was (that many other landmarks had been hit... we later learned they'd been evacuated, not hit). In AP American Government I thought the teacher might cry. She told us to make sure we went home and told our family we love them. That was the class in which some of us were discussing who did it. No one knew yet. Again, rumors were flying around, mostly without basis.

In gym class, the coaches made us run laps. My class was combined with a special class, and the coaches said, "what do we do when we're in trouble?" One of the students said, "run!" So we did. I was jogging with a few friends when we heard a loud noise. It was a plane overhead. It was moving fast. That was a scary moment. We all knew that all planes in the U.S. had been grounded. So what the heck was this one doing in the sky? It was probably a military plane. But for a few moments... we all froze.

The scariest thing was the wondering about a classmate's father who worked on the 103rd floor of one of the Towers. He was freaking out all day. He couldn't reach anyone. Finally did late in the day. Turned out his dad overslept and didn't end up going to work.

My Uncle lives in Manhattan. Not too close to there. He was fine.

My Dad was teaching at a New York City Middle School at the time. Thankfully, it was in Brooklyn, which is part of Long Island, so he could get home. He told me he could see the smoke from his classroom and had to close the windows.

I'm at home right now, with home meaning New York. I am home for Rosh Hashana. As I flew into LaGuardia on Wednesday the plane passed directly over ground zero. Two empty foot prints remain. It's still a chilling sight. I hear the memorial will finally be ready next year. I hope that's true. That way rather than the phrase being "Never Forget," it can become "Always Remember."

Here's what it will look like.