Reflecting on 9/11, 15 years after attack

Morning Coffee – By Aaron Hall

It was a typical day at Wallaceburg District Secondary School for an 18-year-old OAC student.

Preparations for university the following year was my motivation, the playbook for our Tartan football team was embedded in my mind and my dilemma was how I’d be able to make it out to “So and So’s” party after working my closing shift at Harvey’s this upcoming weekend.

This was a usual mindset for myself in high school and my memories from my Tartan days are mostly blended together.

However, this particular Tuesday morning in Mr. Debicki’s math class will be ingrained in mind forever and I can pinpoint the exact date… Tuesday, September 11, 2001.

Before jumping into an hour of mathematical analysis techniques, Mr. O’Donahue came to our door and said to Mr. Debicki and our class, ‘a plane just flew into the World Trade Centre in New York.”

My initial thought was not very poetic, ‘Wow, that’s going to suck.’

We’re about to finish our lesson for the day on the second floor at WDSS, when OD comes to our classroom again and says, ‘another plane just flew into the World Trade Centre.’

This time curiosity and confusion fills my mind, so I walk home to my parents house around the corner.

My mom is on the couch, dabbing tears from her eyes, watching the news.

Within a minute of seeing the notoriously historic image of the twin towers perched high above Manhattan, smoke billowing out if the top, my Mom and I watched as the first tower came tumbling down.

From that day forward, the world changed forever.

It was a vivid reminder yesterday of these tragic events, as the 15th anniversary of the attack was remembered.

Dana and I had the opportunity to visit “Ground Zero” in New York City last fall while visiting the city, and it was a moving experience.

The names of the nearly 3,000 people who died in the attack are written around the site where the tower once stood, and a massive fountain now flows as a permanent memorial.

It was a day I’ll never forget 15 years ago and it is a surreal experience to see the site if you ever have the opportunity.

If you have a suggestion, story idea, column idea, or if you want to say hello… drop me an e-mail at aaron@sydenhamcurrent.ca.

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