Old enough to know

By Jamie Dupuy: On Sept. 10, my mom had called me to inform me she wouldn't be making it home, because she was stuck in Boston. I remember being so upset that she wouldn't be home until the next day. My mom is a flight attendant, and I never usually knew where she was flying to or where she was flying from. But I knew my mom was flying out of Boston on the morning of Sept. 11.

The next day came. To this day I think everyone still vividly remembers how blue the sky was that morning. I was dropped off at school and went to my art class. There was a TV that had been put in the classroom, and the news was showing a building on fire. I remember thinking, "I wonder what happened for someone to accidentally crash a plane into a building." Then everyone saw the second plane.

At that moment, I didn't know what the World Trade Center was because I was 12, but 12 was old enough to know that something serious was happening. My teacher began talking to the class. "Two planes have crashed into the World Trade Center. They left from Boston this morning..."

Tears and me screaming the word "No" is all I remember. I was immediately taken to the office, where I spent most of my morning. My grandparents called and told me they had not heard from my mom yet. I kept thinking, what if my mom was in one of those planes? What if my mom was dead? I cried to that point where you don't have anymore tears to cry. Then I had a phone call. My mom told me she had left Boston right before the other planes had left. She would be in Cinncinati with friends until planes were allowed to fly again.

I then continued my day. Word had spread, and people asked me about my mom. The dean told my teachers what had happened and that I should be allowed to have an easy day. We watched the news in every class. I got home, and my grandparents told me this would be a day I would always remember.

I was at an age where I understood that America would never be the same ... and I can't believe its been 10 years. God bless America.