9 years later...

2nd period. Ms. Cullen. Latin II in the trailer. 9th grade at Culpeper Middle School. That was my first glimpse that something was wrong when Ms. Cullen's mom banged on the door and stuttered something. Her father worked at the Pentagon.

3rd period. Mr. Lee. Honors World History. Live on CNN, we watched the 2nd tower collapse.

It was supposed to be my first home varsity hockey game. I was dressed up. Maroon top. Maroon/white/navy skirt. It was that time of the month. Momma had to slip me home to change. We talked about how it was the most beautiful fall day, yet hell was occurring.

Rumors flew that Bush was being rushed to the empty Federal Reserve carved into a mountain in Culpeper.

All after school activities were called off. Kids were picked up early. Faces were glued to TVs. You wanted to turn it off, but you couldn't.

The epitome of human nature was reflected on 9/11/01. Survival, helping others, giving up goods, curiosity, insanity, determination, belongingness, morality, and surrender were evident.

The day will be forever etched in my mind. I chunk my past in reference to 9/11.

Moral of the story: I remember thinking that 9/11 would be a mark on my childhood just as the assassination of JFK was a mark on Momma's childhood.