I Remember

Now that I have a child, I wonder how I will explain to him the evil things of the world. How can I teach him without scaring him? I am meant to protect him but I am also meant to empower him, to educate him. I must balance his need to know with his need for innocence. I don't have the answer. But my baby is still a baby so I am spared the task for now. But it is something I think about, especially today.

It has been 8 years since the terrorist attacks on September 11th changed our nation.

I remember being a brand new freshman at the University of Utah, only a few weeks into the semester. I was still full of excitement at being in college and I felt so adult. So adult, except my dad still drove me to school in the morning. On the way to campus, we heard the news on the radio. A plane has crashed into the World Trade Center. We didn't yet know it was an act of terrorism. I arrived at my first class (Calculus for Non-Scientific Majors) and my teacher who I had once thought so goofy and out-of-touch was thoughtful and kind and sad. He let us go early.

I made my way to the student Union where I watched the latest news on a big screen TV with a slowly gathering crowd of students. It was there, in a room full of strangers, that I saw the second tower fall.

I didn't know if I should go to my next class, I had only been in it for a few days and my grade was partially based on attendance. It was Concert Chorale and several of my friends were in it. I was relieved to see familiar faces, they seemed to anchor me in reality. My teacher made an announcement that he wouldn't be holding class that day and that we should go home and be with our families. He added that he was thinking about any of us that have family in New York and that he hoped they were alright. My heart sank as I looked over at my friend, realizing that her sister's little family lived in Brooklyn. Her face was ashen and I was ashamed that I hadn't remembered to ask about them. Thankfully, they were safe.

I remember reading the news for weeks afterward about heroes of that day. I remember hearing stories from those who were in NYC when it happened. A father there on business who walked across the Brooklyn bridge before they closed it and found one of the last rental cars available. He drove across the country to get home to his wife and two baby daughters under the age of 2.

I remember the first time I visited New York was post-9/11. I saw the hole in the Manhattan skyline from across the river in Brooklyn. And I saw the hole in the ground where the towers had been.

President Obama was at the Pentagon today to commemorate the anniversary.

"Eight Septembers have come and gone," Obama said. "Nearly 3,000 days have passed, almost one for each one who has been taken from us... We recall the beauty and meaning of their lives... No passage of time, no dark skies can dull the meaning of that moment."

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I hope we always remember.