My memories from that day

Are your memories from 9/11 fuzzy, or crystal clear? What about the days following? I can remember every single moment from that day, as well as a few days later. I'm not sure if I've always remembered everything, or if it's come back to me in pieces. I've begun working on our 10 year class reunion, so I'm in a bit of nostalgia mode anyway, thinking back to that year. My most vivid memory from my senior year in high school isn't graduation, prom, homecoming, or basketball... it's Tuesday, September 11, 2001. ~Johnny Kissko seemed to be the first person who knew anything, and at first told us that a car had exploded in front of the White House. We soon knew that a plane had hit a building in NYC (I knew nothing of the World Trade Center at the time.) ~I was in Mrs. Grey's class, and went across the hall to the library to watch the coverage. I can't remember who now, but some one said, "What is that?" as the second plane flew into the second tower. ~Some people were allowed to stay and watch the news, I had to go to spanish class, where Mrs. C wouldn't let us talk about it AT ALL. She had a friend who worked there, and didn't know if she was still alive. ~We didn't work in any of my other classes that day. ~No one knew who would be attacking us. Weren't we the most powerful country in the world? Wasn't the whole world scared of us? Who would provoke us like this? ~I remember very clearly my physics teacher sitting back and letting us talk all through class. I remember the look on her face, watching us as we sorted things out in our minds. I think she knew how drastically the world changed in that instant, and how it might affect us as seniors more than the younger grades. ~We thought that there would be more attacks, and that Texas would be a target. We didn't know where in Texas, but we thought that since George W. was from here, and we had so many resources, that we were prime real estate. ~I honestly don't know if the school was on lockdown. Did they even do that back then? Or is that something that was introduced after the attacks? ~I didn't shed a single tear all day, until after practice. I went to the field house, and as the boys were coming off the field, I saw my dad and I lost it. He just stood there and held me, although I think it took him a minute to figure out why I was crying. I couldn't figure it out myself, because I am NOT a crier. Ok, I WASN'T a crier then. I was just so mad, and I couldn't talk, so I just cried. And then I was completely embarrassed that all the guys had seen me crying. ~That was my strongest emotion that day. Anger. ~I don't remember much else from the middle of that week, except the pictures and footage that we kept seeing. I didn't want to see it, but I couldn't get enough. ~I remember friday of that week just as vividly as tuesday. ~By coincidence, or providence, friday's pep rally was the "Fire Up" pep rally, to be held at the football field. The football players and us cheerleaders rode into the stadium on fire trucks. This had been planned since the summer. ~When we got off the trucks and in front of the student body, the elementary side of the stands was a sea of mini American flags. I think every single student must have had one. That's when I started choking up. ~My mom was in school and working full time, and didn't make it to many pep rallies, but she was at this one, and filming it. When she turned the camera to those kids, you couldn't see any of their sweet little faces, just the flags they were holding high. ~The band played the national anthem. I'm sure this was done at every pep rally across America that day, but I was so proud that we ALWAYS played it, every week. ~Big, sweet Billy Monpere led the most heart felt prayer. Talked about the victims in NY and DC, their families, and the workers. ~The band also played America the Beautiful, while the flag corp held red, white, and blue flags. ~We traveled to Jim Ned that night, and they had a memorial and played God Bless the USA before the game. ~We won the game (we won most of them that year) and I remember after the game thinking that we had no right to be so happy. I was, too, I don't mean I was standing around scolding people for celebrating. I just mean after it was all over, I felt pretty guilty. I know everyone has their own memories from that day, these are just some of mine, and I wanted to write them down. I never have before. I want to have it down in case my girls ever want to know what I was doing that day. Everyone knows exactly where they were when Pearl Harbor was bombed, or JFK was shot. They remember where they were, who they were with, what they felt, etc. If I forget, or heaven forbid something happen to me, I want to have it all down.