Kim Frencken: Where were you on 9-11?

I still remember exactly where I was, what I did, and how I felt. Do you? For some this day is forever etched in our memories and for others it is a tale that we've been told or heard about in school.

It started as a normal day. Up at 5 am. Drive to school. Do final prep for the class and move to door to greet my students. Things were moving along. Students were busy. We were all completely ignorant of what was taking place. We were tucked safely in our school in a small corner of Missouri.

I heard a gasp in the hallway and walked to my door. I saw the principal talking to another teacher and she seemed upset. I honestly didn't think anything about it at the time because she was frequently upset about something. I went back to minding my own business. 

A few minutes later, the principal knocked on my door and asked me to step into the hall. He told me that two planes had just flown into the twin towers. I looked at his face and waited. He was good at keeping a straight face while telling a joke. I waited. Finally I asked him for the punch line. He just stared at me. Then repeated his message. I asked if he was serious and he said yes.

I was speechless, trying to fathom how this could happen. It seemed unreal. Impossible. Yet, when I turned on the television. There it was. The horror. The chaos. The pain. The courage. It was all real. Too real.

My students and I sat at our desk. I was silently praying, as I'm sure many of my students were. I was numb. It didn't make sense. It didn't seem possible. But I was watching this vile attack destroying so many lives and forever changing our nation. My mind couldn't comprehend the evil that was unfolding.

The next few hours were a blur. I don't even remember driving home. I just couldn't get the images from my mind. Though thousands of miles away, I could still feel their pain and confusion.

On September 11, 2001 a nation grieved together and vowed never to forget. I know I haven't.

(For more of Kim Frencken's writing, check out her blog, Chocolate For the Teacher.)