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The World Cries - Again

© Mary M. Alward

This is not my regular day to publish an article, but in lieu of today's events, I felt that I should.

Early this morning, my daughter called and told me to turn the TV to channel 33. Since I am not a TV watcher, I asked her why. She replied that a terrorist attack had occurred at the World's Trade Center in New York City. My heart leaped into my throat. My immediate thought was, not again.

Little did I realize that the tragedy was much broader than I had thought. I turned on CNN and there before my eyes, I saw a plane fly into the World's Trade Center. Flames and a huge ball of smoke rolled out of the skyscraper. Knowing it was no accident made the atrocity even more heinous.

As I listened to the news, suddenly the announcer interrupted his interview, saying another plane had hit the Trade Center. After that, horrific tragedys rolled forth from his lips. Four planes in the US had been hijacked. One had gone down outside of Pittsburg, two had hit the World Trade Center - a third had hit the Pentagon. It seemed the world was moving in slow motion.

At noon, I went to my daughter's to watch my grandsons. The youngest was home but the oldest was at school. When we picked him up at noon, the first thing he asked was, "Grandma, what terrible thing happened in the United States. My teacher said something awful happened and she cried."

On the way home, I tried to explain to this 6 year old what had happened. He knows about the United States. He knows they are our neighbor. He knows that I have friends who live there. He asked if all my friends were okay. I told him I hoped so and that all we could do was pray for those who were injured and for the families of those who had died.

At home, the TV blared the news. He saw the plane hit the Trade Center. He saw the fire. He saw the smoke. He saw the building crumple. One tower, then the other. He stared at the TV, asking if this was real or just a movie. I told him it was real and he asked why? What could I tell him? I told him that there are people in the world who are evil.

The events didn't seem to bother him overly much, though he was a little sad. They discussed the tragedy in his grade one classroom and he told his teacher that he saw it on TV. I don't think he will ever forget this day. The younger boy, who is 4, wasn't effected by it at all.