It is a normal day. My brother is already at school, so my mom and I usually spend the morning together. It’s Tuesday. The cleaning lady is over and I am watching TV in the playroom, so I don’t bother her. It is warm and sunny, and I cannot wait to go to afternoon kindergarten and play fun games outside with all my new friends.

It’s still pretty early— about 9:00 AM. The phone rings, and my mom answers the phone. It’s my daddy. He usually calls me in the nighttime, so I wonder why he wants to talk right now. Maybe he got a break from work and wanted to say hi. My mom stays on the phone with him though, and I don’t get to talk to him.

My mom turns on the TV and is still on the phone with Daddy. It’s a small TV in the corner of the kitchen, so I cannot see the screen very well. I realize it is the news channel though, and I think the news channel is boring so I don’t pay attention. I keep watching my favorite TV shows and playing games in the other room.

The phone rings again and it is my mom’s friend. They are supposed to eat lunch together while I am at kindergarten, but she cannot do that today. She’s worried about her brother that is working in New York City in the Twin Towers. The phone is ringing a lot this morning and I don’t know why.

But as I walk around the house I see that Mommy and the cleaning lady are crying a lot. The TV is still on, and I decide to watch while I eat my peanut butter and jelly sandwich before kindergarten. Mommy tries to explain to me that there are bad people who crashed planes into the Twin Towers. I feel sad because I know a lot of people probably got hurt.

Mommy tries calling Daddy again but he doesn’t answer. He works in New York City, but farther away from the Twin Towers. Mommy said he was waiting to get on a late train to go to work when he called earlier, so she doesn’t know if he is in New York City yet or still on the train. I hope he is safe.

I went to kindergarten that day even though some schools close by me were closing. I had a good day, but I could tell my teacher was a little sad.

I came home and the TV was still on. It was still showing the plane crashes, and it also showed the Twin Towers falling to the ground. Mommy said that Daddy’s train did not take him to New York City today. It stopped in a town called Maplewood and he was able to go home. I’m happy that he did not go to New York City today.

I was five years old when this tragedy happened, yet I still vividly remember that Tuesday morning. Everybody has their own story of that morning, and no one will ever forget it. No one will ever forget that morning that changed America.