Difficult Questions

Tonight at story-time my son picked up a book about September 11, 2001. At first I thought I would redirect him to a more appropriate book, but I thought the battle would just be too much for me. He is six now and has had some contact with September 11th happenings.



So I open the book and it is a book of front pages from many different newspapers from that date, The photos brought back some of the memories like a rush. I remember I first heard about it in line at the bank. I started work that morning to the sound of airplane after airplane flying overhead. It was unusual enough for me to wonder what was going on. I never connected the two events

The mall was slow, abnormally slow. I think we might have had one customer all morning and then my husband called. Thats when I put everything together. Thats how I heard about the buildings falling. Thats how I heard about his father being in the air during all the events. Thats when I called my boss to tell him I had to leave work to be with my family, just in case.

It is years later and now my son and I are looking at newspaper headlines about that day and he is asking me questions. He wants to know if the people who did this were arrested? He asks if I knew anyone in the buildings. Oddly I did, thought I hadn't seen him in almost 25 years. He is asking me questions about terrorism.

I think I answered his questions well. We talked about different religions and how using a religion is never an excuse to take another person's life. Some questions he never asks. He doesn't understand how this one event effected our country and the world. So I answer his questions as best I can while looking at the newspaper headlines and photos and hope that he only ever has to see moments like that in the newspaper and never in real life like most of us had to and have to.