Thoughts on the day....

Today, we're exploring our thoughts about September 11th. David is 10 and was 5 months old that day. Connor and Brennen... well, they're firmly in the post-9/11 generation.

Me: David, what do you know about 9/11?
David: Ummmm. Many people died, many firefighters. When they were cleaning out the Twin Towers--the square that the towers left, they found a tree--they called it the survivor tree.
Me: How do you feel about what happened on 9/11?
David: Huh. I don't know. Sad and scared. Scared that it could happen again, that more people could die.
Me: What do you think we should do to stop it from happening again?
David: I don't know. Maybe putting a concrete wall around it with a tunnel right to the other door. Then when the planes run into it, the cement will fall off just a little bit. Or they could put like a bomb protection around everything.

Me: Connor, what do you know about 9/11?
Connor (meanly, still upset about Brennen stealing and hiding one of his toys): It was a plane crash. A terrorist attack.
Me: How do you feel about it?
Connor: BAD.
Me: Are you scared?
Connor: No.
Me: Why not?
Connor: I don't know.
Me: Any ideas to stop it from happening again?
Connor: That thing they built around it.
[We've been watching  "Rising: Rebuilding Ground Zero" on the Discovery Channel--you should check it out]

Me: Brennen, what do you know about 9/11?
Brennen (upset at being falsely accused of stealing Connor's toy): I don't want to talk about it.
Me: Why not?
Brennen: Because.
Me: Are you scared?
Brennen: No.
Me: Why don't you want to talk about it?
Brennen: Because.
Me (after waiting for Brennen to get into a better mood): Anything else you want to say?
Brennen: No... wait! The bad guys took over the planes.
Me: Why aren't you scared?
Brennen: Because! I'm going in the war, and I'll just [mimes shooting them all with machine guns].
[At  Brennen's kindergarten graduation, he said he wanted to be an "Army Guy" *sigh*]

There you have it, folks. Life goes on. Children will always have more important things to talk about than a decade-old tragedy. Thank goodness.

For my memories of ten years ago, feel free to visit my other blog.