A Time to Reflect, A Time to Remember

September 11th, 2001.  I remember exactly where I was when the attacks happened.  I was a college student at ASU and I was slowly waking up to get ready for class.  The radio was on as I was getting dressed, and even though I was hearing something on the radio, I was not really listening.  It wasn't until I tuned-in to the DJ screaming over the airwaves about a plane crashing into the South Tower of the World Trade Center, that I started processing what was happening.  I didn't know that just minutes earlier, the first plane crashed into the North Tower.  I turned off the radio, turned on the TV, and watched the rest of the events unfold.  I never made it to class.  Life was on pause for the rest of the day.  Even though I was all the way in AZ, that morning is forever etched into my memory. 

If you were old enough to remember the events on 9/11, then you have your own memories as well.  But for our children, these events are history- perhaps a social studies lesson in school.  This is why when the book Towers Falling by Jewell Parker Rhodes came out, I was ecstatic.  I hadn't seen a fictional book for young readers based on 9/11.  When I finished reading it, I knew right away that I needed to get it into the hands of my own kids. 

9/11.  Why does it matter?

Towers Falling came out two years ago and I still think about this book on a regular basis.  It made such an impression on me, even as an adult.  It helped me understand the way my kids (and kids in general) think about history.  It's like when my dad used to tell us stories about when the Japanese invaded the Philippines.  I would listen to the stories, laugh when my dad would shout out words in Japanese, and think that these stories were ancient history.  Why does it matter?

We have always talked about the significance of 9/11 with our kids and I think that they understand what an important time this was.  We didn't personally know anyone or have any family that was there, but it still matters.  History ALWAYS matters.  

0. May the lives remembered, the deeds recognized, and the spirit reawakened be eternal beacons, which reaffirm respect for life, strengthen our resolve to preserve freedom, and inspire an end to hatred, ignorance and intolerance. 
   ~ 9/11 Memorial ~