First draft

It’s a normal day as I walk into class in the morning and sit in my assigned seat right near my best friend Greg. We laugh and joke and complain about how boring school is and how we can’t wait to the day is over so we can go home. We loved Mrs. Blake class but I mean we hated school who at that age didn’t. Everyone comes in and we get ready to start our daily routine. We have our do now and I remember it was only 5 math problems I was the first one done and I really wanted to go to gym. Gym was the part of the day that everyone liked who didn’t like to go play some sports and not have to learn. I really was excited and the world stopped for me and everyone in the state of New York. An announcement was made to lock the doors and that everyone was required to stay in class. I was so mad and wanted to go to gym. We turned on the class TV and their it was a plane crashing into the twin tower. I was shocked and in awe I asked my teacher what was going on she ran out of class and told another lady to come in. She had to call her husband who worked at the world trade center he had made it out. I couldn’t believe and I couldn’t understand what was exactly happening. This moment changed my perspective on my life drastically. I believe that 9/11 was what changed my character as having known victims and almost losing my father to this tragic event.
In my class there were a lot of people who had family members who worked in the city and one kid in my class had a dad who worked in the trade center tower number 1. I remember him the most his name was Kevin and we weren’t really friends and didn’t really care for each other but everything changes when something like this happens. He started to cry when he saw the video and immediately said that he had to leave and in fifth grade there was nothing we could do the teacher had to follow the rules. This is where I realized that my dad was in the area and that my best friend Greg said the same thing. His dad was in the south tower and was nervous when the north tower was hit. This is all happening and it was only 9 and the tower was hit at 8:45. It felt like it was ten hours but only 15 minutes had passed. Then the most unthinkable thing occurred the second tower was hit. This time we were watching this life and my heart just stopped. The air left my lungs and I felt as if someone punched me in my stomach. I immediately looked over at Greg and saw his tears start to come out his Dad worked in tower two. This was the error of no cell phones so there was no way for us to contact our parents. This was hard for us especially, more so for him as his dad worked in the south tower. My teacher who left the room came back in with tears and a smile. I will never forget her face when she told us her husband made it out alive he just called her. I was still so confused and was asking what had happen. She tried to explain but all I got from the whole thing was that bad man took control of planes and killed our people. Then my mom came and got me and told me that my dad was ok Greg came with us and when we dropped him off his mom told him his dad was actually late to work and that it saved his life. That moment was so shocking and woke me up as to what actually occurred. I couldn’t believe my friends face when he hugged his mom and smiled. We were happy that our dads had made it out okay but we were completely oblivious as to what actually had just happened.
When I look back on how I reacted when I was in 5th grade it’s understandable but I wish was as mature as I am now and the responsible person I am now. I acted so immature and only cared about my family and how I felt and wish that I could have been more helpful to the people in my class and the time after this event occurred. As a kid or a boy you act differently to certain things and one of those things was this. I didn’t fully understand what had occurred and when I finally understood my life changed, or it had changed before and I didn’t know it yet. I had almost lost my dad and my friend almost lost his. That really put life into perspective for me and now I understand why my dad has always been so protective of me. Life is so fragile; it can be taken at any given time. I learned that life and your family should not be taken for granted and that you should appreciate what you have.
Now that I am older and I fully comprehend what happen that day and the amount of life that was lost my perspective was completely changed and change that occurred in me is completely visible when I look back on those days and the pain I saw people endure during those dreadful hours. I am a sympathetic loving person because of the thing that I saw and the things that I almost lost. The things that those people lost on 9/11 are irreplaceable. People go their whole life and take it for granted this changed for me when my dad was also taken from me. I wouldn’t be the same if my dad wasn’t here some call me lucky, I just say I’m fortunate for still having my dad. I’m sorry for the lost and pain that others have felt I wish no one in the world would have to endure that pain.