I don't suppose this date will ever again pass without causing a measure of sadness, hope, and pride — all three — through my heart and mind.
There are those monumental events in life that you remember everything very specifically. Some of those moments are good times, special events in one's life. Others of them are sad times. Today I remember back specifically to the morning of September 11, 2001. It was a seemingly normal day, a Tuesday that would be packed as full as all of the rest of my Tuesdays. Indeed, it seemed normal as I went through my regular morning routine. School began at 8:25; I taught until 10:00 when I took my kids out for a quick break. At 10:15 I brought them inside where they lined up at the water fountain. This was when the day suddenly became different for me.
As I was standing in the hallway, the gym doors before me shot open and a lady went running past my class. It was obvious that something bad was going on somewhere. She had a hurried, whispered conversation with someone else in the hallway who then came over to me and whispered that we had been attacked by terrorists, the World Trade Center had been hit, the Pentagon had been hit, and there was another plane believed to be heading for the White House. The following piece of information was equally difficult to hear: "Do not let your students know."
You may think that was an unreasonable request; and had we been in any other part of the United States, it would have been. The actual truth was that probably between 40 and 60% of our students had parents who worked in the Pentagon. With stricken heart and prayers crying out inside me, I moved my class back to the classroom and began to have class as normal. Fifteen minutes later, I was called out of my classroom and there before me stood a student who had been absent from my class that morning. He had been at the dentist office and while there he and his mom had heard about the plane hitting the Pentagon where his dad worked. They tried to reach him but were unable to do so. The mom brought the child to school and left him, and he was instructed that he was not allowed to mention that he knew anything was going wrong in our world.
The toughest thing I ever did, I think, was try to teach math that morning looking back at this young boy and seeing the worry on his face, yet being able to do nothing to help him. I did get a couple of subtle references to God being in control, but I couldn't be specific. While at lunch, I was called to the phone and asked to get this student without arousing any worry to the other students and let him know that his dad was okay. As I went over to the student, I tried to smile, but it was hard. I asked him to come with me, and I was able to share with him that God had taken care of his father and that his dad wanted to talk to him on the phone. What a wonderful sight it was to see the tears of relief in his eyes and the joy in his face as talked briefly with his father.
As the afternoon wore on, we heard from every student's family members who worked at the Pentagon. All were safe. Some were safe because they had been nowhere near the vicinity of the plane, and yet there were four who had a different story. One student's mother worked in the Pentagon and had that morning received a call from her elderly mother who needed a ride to the doctor. This inconvenienced the student's mother to the nth degree, but she called in late to work and took her mom to the doctor. As she was rushing to work, she neared the Pentagon on the highway just in time to see a plane headed straight for her building; she watched as the plane hit the building, and it actually went right through her office. What a blessing that God protected this mother and brought her safely back to her children. There were three more of our parents who worked in the same division in an area where the plane went through their offices, but fortunately, all were attending a meeting in a different area of the building. We lost no school members families to that attack.
Everywhere people were talking about God and the need for prayer. Church attendance for the following Sunday and even a few beyond that was higher as many people in our area looked to God for help in this difficult time. What a ray of hope for our country to see so many people not only recognize a need for God but seemingly turn to Him during this time. Yet, how sad that this turning to God was but a fleeting thing. How proud I was to hear of my countrymen who gave their lives in saving others! How proud I was of my President who said that no one would mess with America that way and be ignored.
Less than two months later, I drove by the Pentagon and saw the gaping hole in the side of that great building. It was massive; what had looked small in pictures was the size of a Super Wal-mart. Once again, the power of God's protecting hand was impressed upon me as I gazed in awe at that devastation.
Ten years later, most of us have forgotten. We've forgotten the seriousness of what happened that day. We've forgotten the hope that we held for our country when we saw many turning to God. We've forgotten the pride in a President who stood up and refused to allow our country to be bullied. We've forgotten and look at 9-11 as a historic event that happened in our lifetime. We must not forget; we must not forget the horrors of that day! We must not forget the sadness that we felt! We must not forget the hope that we held! We must not forget the pride that swelled within us! It is our responsibility to remember; to teach our children that this was not just an event in a history book! This was a time when America — even for a short time — leaned on God! This is a time to remember the sadness, the hope, and the pride that we felt. This is a time to remember the protecting hand of God that was upon us that day and remains upon us to this day!
Deborah K. Secord, Ed.D.
Principal