I was in the third grade on September 11, 2001. All teachers were called to the office to watch the news and my teacher did not come back for an hour. When she did come back, she was crying and searching for her phone. Shortly after, another teacher came into the room and my teacher left. The door to the hall was open and I could see a group of teachers surrounding mine as she was desperately trying to make phone calls. Being in the third grade, we were not informed to what was going on but told to talk amongst ourselves.

After waiting for an hour and a half for our teacher, she came back into the room with a tear-stained face. The fear showed in her face and in her voice. She did not hold back the tears, and even as third graders, we all knew that something had happened.She explained to us the events that had just happened in New York; she also explained that her daughter was currently on vacation in New York. My teacher had spent the last couple hours attempting to get a hold of her daughter but had had no luck. She did not know if her daughter had been close to the tower or nowhere near it.

Many of the parents picked their kids up early, including mine. When I got home, I watched the events of 9/11 on the news. I had not fully understood the tragedies that my teacher had explained until I saw the events happen. I could not believe that something like it could happen and that I may have known someone that died. Thankfully, my teacher’s daughter was nowhere near the Twin Towers, but it still pains me to think of the many people who waited to hear that person’s voice, but they never did. The lives that were lost will never be forgotten and I will never forget the day that they lost their lives.