September 11, 2001 brings back many vivid memories for me, memories that I can still relive every detail. I have three memories that stand out most from that day.

The first memory I have is of school that insane day. I remember sitting in Ms. Will's study hall hearing the names of all of my friends being called to be excused. It wasn't long before I noticed I was one of a handful of students left. It was about that time that I heard my name being called over the intercom to be excused, and of course being a 5th grader I was very excited to be getting out early. If I had known the reason, I probably wouldn't have felt the same.

My mom rushed my brother and I home and that is where I found out the dreadful news, and that is where history began.

The second memory I have is sitting on my couch with my family and neighbors watching the replays of the planes flying into the World Trade Center and Pentagon, and hearing the terrifying news of Flight 93. One thing I remember most are the clouds of smoke rising from the buildings like enormous mushrooms, continually growing with each second. I also remember the expressionless, pale faces sitting around me, just staring at the television as if they were in a trance.

The final memory that stands out for me was the pure silence outside. The silence was like I've never heard before. All to be heard was the quiet whisper of the wind and the occasional chirp of a cricket. These three memories stand out most and always will. I will constantly be reliving these memories because they are some of the most vivid that I have.

Five years ago, this event seemed to me like it didn't affect me much, I was sad for the people who lost their lives but not really scared because I didn't live in New York. I know this is selfish of me to say, but now that I have matured I have learned how much September 11 has affected our country. Usually, I am not one to keep up with the news beyond what pops up on my computer which is usually something about Paris Hilton, or some other stuff I really don't care about. For this reason last night I was actually kind of scared there would be a reoccurance of 9/11. I even asked my mom if our country knew of any threats against us. She said there was none that she has heard of and that there are always going to be threats against us. Ever since the United States became a country we have had enemies. Ther have always been people sceeming against us, and there always will be. If we have lasted this long as a country, we will only find new ways to defend ourselves and in the end we will be a stronger country.

When September 11 happened, I was in 5th grade. The memory is quite hazy and I really can't recall specific details. All I know is that my teacher suddenly became very upset and all of us kids knew something was terribly wrong. I somewhat can remember getting picked up by my parents and wondering what was going on. Now looking back on what happened, I understand the situation and know that we were under attack. I'm now a sophomore in high school and that event is much more important to me now than it was then. I know that it has taken America a lot of strength to recuperate from that incident, and we will do everything in our power to keep something like that from happening again.

On September 11 I was in the fifth grade, outside at reccess. All of the students were running around, playing on the monkey bars as usual when our teacher, told us it was time to go inside. We all knew something was wrong but we didnt know what. Everything from there on is a blur in my mind. I just wish I could remember how everyone acted and how I acted.

On the day of September 11th, everything was totally normal. Nothing was going differently from any other boring school day. I was in fourth grade, and i was in school. Kids were being suspiciously pulled out of the classroom and every time i looked, more and more students happened to be "dissapearing". Towards the end of the day my teacher, Mrs. Crouse was passing out a piece of green paper to all the kids and she was telling us that they go to our parents and only our parents. Being the nosey kid that i am, of course i was going to read this! I read it and it was just talking about keeping your kids calm and telling them that eveything was going to be alright. I was confused, but i did not let this bother me. I just forgot about it.

I had to go to afterschool care everyday becuase both my mom and dad worked. I hated after school care and my mom, since she worked in downtown Chicago, didnt pick me up until she was off the train which was not until 6:00. I would look at the clock every two minutes waiting until that 6:00 mark. It ws about 3:45 and in strolled my mom. This is very strange. She took me home and on the way to the car, i asked her why she was here. She said that she got to take an early train home because two planes hit The World Trade Center and they wanted to make sure nothing happened in Chicago. I was very confused. I had no idea what this "World Trade Center" even was! I was picturing in like this tiny building, but when i got home, boy i was in for some surprise! I just sat on my couch watching this disaster replay over and over again and i just could not believe my eyes! Now i realize how big this whole thing was and it is something that i will surely never forget.

On September 11, 2001 I was sitting in Mrs. Pavalonis's foruth grade class. Everything seemed to be going like a regular day until around ten o'clock there was an announcement for every teacher to send a student down to the office to get an envelope that had papers that needed to be passed out to every student. Of course in this letter it gave suggestions on how to inform your child that the Twin Towers had been hit. After this letter was given to the students, the teachers acted suspicious. As the day went on, many of my classmates began to disappear for some reason or another (which i didn't know at the time).

I could remember it like it was yesturday. It was another ordinary day in Lemont & i was in 4th grade. I woke up early to go to school, everything seemed to go normal. My classmates and I were working on some sort of project until my teacher sat us down and told us something serious has happened. I was only 9 years old so i really had no idea what she was about to say. I heard the words come out of her mouth as if it was a huge blue. "Two planes have crashed into the World Trade Center." First things first I was 9 years old at the time and i was confused because I didn't know what the World Trade Center was.

It was about 10:00 when our principal came onto the intercom and started talking to us. You could hear how scratchy her voice was from crying. It was than it hit me that something so horrible & devastating can really happened to us.

I went back home and saw my mom on the couch crying and her face filled of tears. I saw how something so big impacted not only the lives of the people that were lost & their loved ones but my family too. I found out that morning my dad was at the airport leaving for Boston until my mom called him and told him he wasn't going anywhere.

I look back,now that i'm 15 years old & i finally understand what has happened to the Unites States it has not brought us down, but has brought us together as one. We have come together and excepted differences from other people & finally we have united together.

This traggic moment has changed all of us for the better but we pray for those that were lost & their loved ones. For today & tomorrow will bring us better days.

9/11 - never forget.