Nates Notes

My second grade teacher took me aside. She just finished speaking with the school principal. She kneeled down and uttered these very words: “Nathaniel, I’m so sorry but we can’t get ahold of your mom. … The Pentagon has been hit. But don’t worry, it’s going to be alright.”

Around this time of year, those words echo frequently through my mind. I do not remember much from my second grade year, as it was 14 years ago. But there is one day that I — and I am sure many others as well — can never seem to forget. And that day is Sept. 11, 2001, one of the darkest days in our nation’s history.

On that horrible day, a group of Islamic extremists flew planes into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Virginia. These terrorists ripped away the lives of more than 3,000 people and completely leveled the World Trade Center.

While the Pentagon still remains, the attack was not any less devastating. Husbands and wives lost spouses. Brothers and sisters lost siblings. Children lost parents.

I did not just have one parent employed there, I had two. In fact, that is where my parents first met each other. For some, this is the day God called some family members home. But to me, this is the day He saved mine.

My father was on a business trip to Nevada that week. I knew he was fine. But Mom… Mom was supposed to be at work that day. She only took Fridays off. The planes hit on a Tuesday. I had no idea where she was. For all I knew, Mom was still in the building. And that very thought nearly ate me alive.

My teacher stood before me, trying to console me as my shirt was all but soaked with tears. Other faculty members faithfully tried to contact either of my parents. But getting a phone call through on that day was practically impossible. After that, my memory gets a little fuzzy. But what happened next, I could never forget.

I saw her. My mother. She walked through those glass doors at Grace Brethren Christian School in Clinton, Maryland and opened her arms with the biggest, most welcoming smile on her face. I ran to her and hugged her as tightly as my six-year-old body let me. She did not go to work that day. She normally took classes on Fridays, but for whatever reason, she had a class Sept. 11, 2001.

I still get choked up thinking about it all. Simply put, God saved my mother and my father.

With Sept. 11 around the corner, pray for those who lost loved ones, as I suspect the thought of that day is still a difficult one. And let your family know that you love them. Thousands lost that luxury 14 years ago.

Haywood is the editor-in-chief