Writing Helps

The terrible events that took place on September 11, 2001 will forever be in the hearts of those who watched in horror as evil showed its ugly head. Mention the words: World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and thoughts of the countless, innocent lives so senselessly taken away break our hearts. How can anyone be so evil? Where do we go from here?

On the morning of September 11, I ate breakfast, fed my daughter, and got a call from my mom and dad wishing me a Happy Birthday. I mentioned to my husband just that morning that I wondered what kind of events happened on my birthday. The only one I could think of was Barbara Mandrel’s car accident that almost killed her—I told my husband that wasn’t an event I want my birthday to be remembered for. So after my husband left for work I turned on the television and discovered the only news for the day was Michael Jordan returning to basketball. Oh, how I wish now, that was the only news. I had turned the television off and returned a few minutes later, flicking the power on, so I could hear the weather forecast. That’s when I saw the fireball shooting out of the first World Trade Center Tower. “What?” It took me a long time to grasp that this horror was really happening. But it was, and it is still difficult for me to believe. I can only imagine the heartache, emptiness, numbness…all those living in New York City or who have lost loved have my deepest sympathies. I live hundreds of miles away and I too feel that numbness, to be in the middle of it must be torture. Every birthday I have for the rest of my life will remind me of September 11, 2001, yet I’m lucky enough to still have birthdays ahead of me.

How do we go on? What can teachers do to help students deal with this tragedy? There have been recommendations left and right from psychiatrists and those trained to help people in disaster situations such as this one and one that I hear over and over again, one that has helped me in all the stressful situations in my life is WRITE. Writing about the tragedy. How it makes you feel. What if anything can be done to prevent this sort of thing from happening in the future?. What can you do to help? By writing, you give yourself an opportunity to see yourself. To discover your reactions. To discover what the tragedy has done to your soul. I see so many people filled with such anger and they have turned that anger into hatred toward anyone who represents the Muslim people. That in itself is a tragedy. Taking the time to write could prevent this. Writing may not erase what happened, but it can help heal. That’s all we have.

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