Christmas: The Aftermath

Two days ago one of my favorite days of the year finally presented itselft. When kids are asked what is their favorite part of Christmas, most of them say the opening of presents. As for me, I am very similar but I have a one that comes just before it. I know what is better than presents, well i have the answer. Trivial Pursuit. Every Christmas night i go to my aunts house in Northfield and three families are there every year. We all have do a gift exchange and eat a magnificent dinner, All 15 of us. Then it is after dinner when my favorite part of Christmas happens. Every year we play Trivial Pursuit and it gets very competative. We played for maybe 2 hours and there was non-stop laughter and yelling. The reason this is my favorite part of the holiday is because when I am playing I forget about all the presents I have gotten, the food I've eaten or the things I am going to do tomorrow with my presents. I am just truely happy to be with family and I think that is what the Christmas Spirit is all about.

Looking Back on 9/11

It was a Tuesday morning and I was sitting in Ms. Curran's 4th grade class. I remember I was sitting next to one of my best friends from Sunset Ridge Trey Surpless. It was a normal morning, since it was only 4th grade not too much was going on. Then all of the sudden my Principal came onto the intercom. I remember it him saying, "Hello this is Dr. B and I have some horrific news. Today around 8 am New York time, an airplane flew into the side of one of the World Trade Center towers. Only fifteen minutes later another plane flew into the other tower. I will keep updating you all throughout the course of the day." granted it was 7 years ago some of this could be a little off. After I heard my Principal say this i wasn't really sure to think because i had no idea what the World Trade Center was or the significance it had on our nation. My 4th grade as a hole didn't have a real knowledge of the situation so the day was all in a blur. When I got home from school that day I saw my dad sitting in front of my television. This was very confusing to me because it was much too early for him to be home. My dad and I talked about what had happened for a little. I was most frightened when my dad told me that Chicago was theorized to be a potential target. My dad, at the time, worked in the 3rd tallest building in Chicago. He said told me all of Chicago had been evacuated for every one's safety. Just the mere thought of my dad being in danger scared me. I was just happy to see him home. That's the most of what I remember of this historic day. What really got me today was when I was on my way home from school today I passed the Northfield Fire station. They had the ladder one of their fire trucks stretched out with a big American flag attached on the end.

The flag waved in the wind right over the road. While I drove under the flag goose bumps appeared on my arm. At that moment I really felt like I understood the patriotism and pride in our great nation. The anguish and horror America felt 7 years ago finally set in to me. At that moment I was truly proud to be an American.