As I was thinking about this historical day today I started to think about other historical events that have taken place in my lifetime and I realized that I spent and am still spending an awful lot of time in various schools. I was in second grade when someone tried to assassinate President Reagan. I remember the teachers wheeling out the TVs and we watched it over and over again. Really, how many times do eight-year olds need to see someone get shot? When the space shuttle blew up I was in gym class. We were square dancing and our principal came on over the intercom to tell us. My last day of student teaching was the day the O.J. Simpson verdict was read. Most of the teachers were standing outside the teachers’ lounge watching them read the verdict. I think we left the kids to fend for themselves for a few minutes. I was reading The Three Little Wolves and the Big, Bad Pig to my class of fourth graders when we learned that something was going on in New York on 9/11. That was the day I was going to tell my class I was expecting, but I couldn’t. I was too busy trying to explain to them, without breaking down into tears, what I had seen on TV in the teachers’ workroom while they were in the library. And today I was serving nachos, apples and carrots to a bunch of Catholic school kids while the lunch lady and the other mom that was volunteering watched what we could of it on the little TV they had brought in for the three of us so we wouldn’t miss it. Thank you to Mrs. Roberts for bringing in the TV and thank you to the custodian who brought in the very long extension cord.
Where Were You?
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
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