TW: terrorism, 9/11, violence, death

I'm six years old and sitting at my desk in my first grade classroom. We were learning about nouns and adjectives, but the teacher next door comes in and whispers something to Mrs. King. She pauses and brings in one of the TV carts.

We all get excited and think that we're going to watch a movie. But Mrs. King looks pale and doesn't say anything as she plugs in the TV. The screen comes to life, but it's not cartoons or anything I recognize.

It's the news and two tall towers are the focus. One has smoke billowing from the top as the reporter begins talking about planes. Mrs. King stares blankly at the screen with her hand tightly gripping her chin and mouth.

The second tower is hit by a plane and they start talking about the Pentagon. The smoke intensified and then the buildings fell as the reporter screamed and Mrs. King gasped.

We were all sitting in silence and too young to understand it all, but we felt that everything changed in that moment. The car ride home from school was quiet and it remained somber even after my dad got home from work. The news stayed on the whole evening and I picked up bits and pieces that I understood: planes, crash, attack, victims, terrorism.

I'm twenty-eight now and I know so much more about it now, it sometimes feels impossible that I watched it unfold on that tv screen. A lot changed that day for me, but also for the entire world. The war on terror, increased airport security, increased Islamophobia and xenophobia, and so much more happened as a direct response to the attacks.

So today, on the 23rd anniversary of the attacks, I ask that you join me in a moment of silence for the 2,997 victims who lost their lives, those who lost a loved one, those who carry its mental and physical scars, and for the things that could have been but never were.