WiredKids > September 11 Information > 911 Letters > Aingeal

Aingeal

When I first heard about the World Trade building, I was in school taking the “I-step” test… it’s a test that every sophomore takes in order to graduate. I didn’t understand what is meant. Then as the day went on, I heard more & more. Teachers everywhere in the building had their TV’s on, some cried… some shook their heads in sadness… I had no idea… I was more worried about my hero. My ex boyfriend was in the hospital… he had stood up for a girl that was raped… & the guy took a lead pipe to his face, literally taking out his eye. I just wanted the school day to be over so I could go to the hospital & see him.

The school day ended & I went home. When I got home, I called my mom & asked her when she would be home to take two friends & I to see our school’s hero. She told me she was not going to take me… then I noticed shaking in her voice.

The first building that was hit had her major clients in it… & it was hit, on the floor that her clients worked. Now I was scared… Really scared. That is when September 11th finally sunk in… It finally hit me that this was real.. this happened in AMERICA. How? Why? I then called up my solider friend & she proceeded to tell me that she wasn’t scared for the people who have died, or the people who are dying… she was being selfish she told me… she was scared for her life. She knew, that the Army was going to take action… She knew there would be a list of people who would be possibly deployed posted in every e-mail box the next morning… & she knew, she would probably be on that list. I went over to her apartment…. & we both cried for about an hour… finally, we shut off the television… & we just talked. We tried to keep the conversation happy & upbeat, but it was hard.

Through the next few weeks, all you heard about was what happened… I got so tired of hearing about it… I just wanted my life to get back to normal… but normal has yet to come… I still have not watched TV since Kelsey & I shut off her television set. Everywhere across the United States, you see flags, bumper stickers, signs, T-shirts… all declaring love for this nation… You hear the pledge of allegiance a lot more often… You hear the tune to the star spangled banner playing as peoples cell phone ringers. Artists wrote songs about what happened. People wrote poems…

It use to be something you saw a lot, walking through an airport… people joking with the guard about having a weapon… Joke now, & they will search you… We have become stronger… but we also have become weaker.

Aingeal