Never Forget

This day comes and goes every year. I keep thinking at some point maybe it won't effect me as much. However, every year, it has the same effect. I flash back to that morning of unsurety. I remember waking up to my radio, the trade winds blowing my blue hawaiian print curtains. I remember dressing, and catching something about planes on the radio. I remember picking up my fellow student teacher, driving Kamehameha Highway to Kaneohe. I tried to tell her I had heard something out of the ordinary. I remember the sunrise, I remember searching the radio channels trying to figure out what happened. We passed several military patrol on the two lane highway that morning, it was odd. I remember arriving at Heeia Elementary School and getting details. I remember talking with my CT about how we will handle the day, what we will talk to the children about, and how many kids may not be to class because of the heavy Marine and family population. We left at lunch, and passed several more military patrols, but they made sense now. We hadn't seen any images, we had just heard. It wasn't until late afternoon, around 1 p.m. that we arrived back in Laie, went to attend our afternoon class. We walked into a dark room full of our fellow student teachers, sitting in silence, glued to the t.v. The images had grown old for the rest of America, but for us in that room, it was the first time we had seen what had happened. It was an eery yet, solemn silence. We all sat trying to process what we were seeing. The world stopped that day. I remember receiving an email from a friend. The entire email was about how this was big, that there would be definitive repercussions for those responsible. I can remember that e-mail nearly word for word. Every year, I remember. Kaiya and I have made it a tradition to go to the Healing Field yearly. We walk around, in awe of all the flags. She likes me to read to her the names of the people. She feels most sad when we find children. She doesn't yet fully understand what it all means, but I hope I am instilling appreciation for life, for her freedoms, and for this country!