Wednesday, September 11, 2019

Remembering...

I will never forget how blue the sky was that day. It was easily the most gorgeous blue sky I had ever witnessed (then and still).

Eighteen years ago I was teaching at The New England Center for Children. As I drove from my apartment in Belmont to the school in Southborough I remember think that it was the most gorgeous day ever and that I was looking forward to the end of the school day so that I could spend the rest of it outside enjoying what (at that point) felt like the most beautiful day ever.

I was teaching when the new came. A quiet knock came on our door. I think it was from our team supervisor, Nicole, telling us that something had happend in NYC. Since we had a TV in our room we quickly switched it on to see what was happening. We were all in shock as we stared at the images unfolding on the screen. Surely, this had to be some movie stunt gone wrong? But no, that was not the case at all. Even before NECC decied to send everyone home early that day (something that was unheard of) parents had started calling to say they would be coming to pick up their child. Many had ties to NYC (or worked in NYC or flew regularly on those two planes) and felt as if they needed to circle the wagons up and be with their families in that moment. A feeling we all shared.

It was a traffic free ride down the Pike back home to Belmont that day. It was eerily quiet. I called my mom from the car and she said to me, "You really shouldn't be driving and talking on the phone to which I replied, "No worries, mom, I am on the only one on the road." The quiet remained for the rest of the day and all through the night (and for several days and nights thereafter). The only noise being that of an occasional fighter jet flying overhead (patrolling from Hanscom AFB).

And yet, here we are, eighteen years later, able to remember everything about that day as if it just happend. Including the gorgeous blue color of the sky....

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