We have adjusted to the airport searches

and increased security but I don’t believe we

can shake our feelings of vulnerability.”

I was getting ready to go to my High School teaching job

on Sept. 11, 2001. I watched in disbelief when a second

plane struck the Twin Towers and said to myself, "This

can't be an accident." I didn't use the word terrorism,

because as a US citizen, it wasn't within my realm to use

that word. On the way to school, I contemplated how I

would teach that day. Some kids needed the reassurance

of routine, while others needed to talk about what they

had viewed. It was a day that we lost our innocence,

collectively as a nation.

We have adjusted to the airport searches and increased

security but I don't believe we can shake our feelings of

vulnerability. We all became victims that day, knowing

that our unstoppable spirit as a nation could be

breached. We also all became survivors of 911.

Tina V., 49, Kelso

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