and you’ve got time.
I don’t remember September 11, 2001
It was my sixth day of First Grade at Beaumont Elementary in Devon, Pennsylvania
I was a 5-year-old new kid
Mrs. Kowalski was still learning our names
The School Board decided not to tell the students what happened
Didn’t want 7000 children in a panic
Thought we were safer in school
Than with distraught and distracted parents on highways
It was just another Tuesday
I don’t remember 9/11
I remember the weeks that followed
The red eyes of adults around me
The fantastical and horrific stories
The tears and denial of friends who lost loved ones
All burned into my mind
I don’t remember 9/11
I remember my parents going to New York a month after the attacks for their anniversary
They brought back gifts from the Toys R Us in Times Square
And stories of dust covered cars that would never be reclaimed
I don’t remember 9/11
I remember hearing that we were going to war
I remember my fear for children like me who would get hurt
I remember resigned acceptance
“We’re just getting the bad guys,” people said
“You’re too young to understand”
I don’t remember 9/11
I remember my confusion when my father couldn’t walk my mother and I to the gate at Philadelphia International
“But the last time we visited Aunt Theresa you waved goodbye”
What I would’ve given to go back to 1999
I don’t remember 9/11
I remember the dead
Young Americans fighting out of grief and misguided patriotism
Iraqis and Afghans and Pakistanis slaughtered out of revenge
I remember pushing a bully down a slide on a playground when he asked my friend if her parents bombed buildings
A week later he tripped me going down the stairs, spraining my ankle
“Al Qaeda supporter,” he whispered
I don’t remember 9/11
I remember a war
I remember being desensitized to images of gore and destruction
I remember a norm of hatred and aggression in the name of patriotism and security
I remember learning of the ever-mounting debt being saddled on my generation
Debts that my grandchildren will still be paying off
Debts of money and of blood
I don’t remember 9/11
I remember traveling to other countries
Being reminded to exercise caution when telling people we’re Americans
I remember the surprise on their faces
“But you’re so nice”
“You don’t look like war-mongers”
I don’t remember 9/11
I remember the nausea I felt when we learned in school that we armed and trained Al Qaeda and the Taliban
That we caused the Iranian Revolution
That we fund corruption and war when it fits our needs
That we’ve murdered millions in the name of freedom
That we are a nation of terrorists ourselves
I don’t remember 9/11
I remember years of teachers glossing over the early 2000s
“You know this already. You lived through it.”
I remember finally speaking up, 10 years later
Asking Mr. Palmatier to go over the events of that infamous day
I remember his stunned silence as he looked at his 2nd period AP US History class
“Sir…we were 6…we don’t remember”
I don’t remember 9/11
I remember the fear I feel every time I fly
Every time I ride public transportation
Every time I’m in a crowded area
Every time I attend a sporting event
Every time I’m at a historical site
I don’t remember 9/11
I remember visiting memorials on a frigid day in December
Sleet masked the tears on my face
So much death and destruction
An endless war
A generation raised on fear
A generation that could learn
Learn to empathize
Learn to love
Learn from the mistakes of those who came before us
I don’t remember 9/11
But I can’t forget everything since
I won’t forget
I feel like this is the realest most exposing moment of the 21st century
Gold medalists Aljona Savchenko & Bruno Massot of Germany collapse on the ice upon completion of their free skate routine, 14th February 2018. Their score of 159.31 is a new Olympic record high for pairs figure skating.
hey gang im ordering 14 dollars worth of soda and nothing else from my local dominos
im thorsty
He better not fucking have
a criminal
A hero
an artist
ch iken….
my past reincarnations as they watch me do anything
anyway jeff bezos could eradicate homelessness. he could literally give each homeless person 100k and it would only take less than .5% of his entire wealth. what the actual god giving fuck
i cant believe americans on tv really say rock paper scissors like???? its paper scissors rock omg do u irl americans actually say rock paper scissors????



