History

I remember asking my parents and grandparents about when JFK was shot. They always knew where and when they found out. Their perspective made the event seem more real to me than any history book. It had been embossed into their memory. I remember sitting in my elementary classroom watching the exciting event of a teacher about to go up in space. Challenger didn't make it and I will always remember my teacher's horrified faces as they quickly turned off the television.
This weekend is not complete without commenting on the anniversary of 9/11, an event that changed so much of our perspectives and many moments which were burned into our memory. Here is my very inconsequential story that I will tell my children:

At eight that morning, I was in the basement of the medical school looking at histology slides. They were liver samples. Someone announced that the Trade Center was "blown up"; I did not understand the reality and tragedy of it yet, not at all. No one did really. The details were fuzzy since it was early in the morning. I remember visiting these buildings as a teenager; at that time, I had not seen them as places of work for real people, just tourist spots. We were told the university was shutting down (we were close enough to N.Y. to warrant this). We walked to a general seating area full of people just standing and watching the overhead TV . Some where calling east coast family members on their cells. Newscasters were frazzled. Clips were awful. No one quite knew what was going on at that point. Then the newscaster saw another plane coming. A plane hitting a building. "A plane hit the tower!" Later helicopters hovering and people were jumping out of flaming windows. I remember thinking, "Why aren't the helicopters getting them! Where are the ropes, the ladders, the rescue!" It was too hot, too dangerous, too quick. It was a desperate helpless feeling. Everyone was quiet and glued to the television. Then, we heard about the Pentagon being hit. We stood and watched without realizing over an hour had passed. The first tower began to fall. My heart fell with it. "Run!", I thought as the dust billowed over the filming camera. It was so raw. I left then, wanting to be with my husband. A large helicopter was flying low around the campus. No one knew what would come next. I was scared about what would happen next to the country, to us. I got home and waited for my husband (we didn't have cell phones at the time). I called my mom and talked about it, grateful they were safe and far from the world turning upside down on the east coast.