FIRST MEMORY
PRESENTATION
I technically have two “first” memories because I’m not actually sure which came first as I was so young at the time. So I’m just going to stick to the one that I remember a little better.
I live on Long Island, in Nassau County - less than an hour outside the city on a good day! My grandparents also live in Nassau, and they have a really nice pool in their yard. My grandpa, who I call “Jim”, and I used to have a game where we would wave at the helicopters and planes overhead while we were in the pool. We called the police helicopters his “buddies” because he’s a retired NYPD Sergeant.
On September 11, 2001, I was just about to turn two years old, but it’s not actually that day that I remember, but three days afterwards. On September 14, 2001, the flight ban was lifted on the airspace above where I lived. I don't remember many visuals of that day, just a blinding bright sun, a plane, and a couple hibiscus flowers growing up a vine of the house in the backyard of my grandparents house. What I remember more vividly was the sound of me crying, the smell of the pool water, and the annoying prickly feel of my grandpa’s chest hair as he frantically held me; trying to calm me down.
That’s all I remember of September 2001, but I never waved at a plane or helicopter for years afterwards. I was only 2, which leads to a lot of people telling me that I don't actually remember this, but I know I do. I know I remember because I don't just remember the event but the experience. Whether I only remember because someone told me after the fact doesn’t really change the experience for me. Because I was only 2, I know that I had no idea what was happening on September 11, 2001. But I did know one thing on that day in my grandparents' pool: planes=bad. I wasn’t really talking at that point, so I couldn't have just overheard the news on the TV from another room. I must have seen actual footage on the TV of the plane going into the towers. Even then I’m sure I had no idea what that meant, but hearing the panicked voices of adults around me at the time, and the panicked voices of news reporters on TV must have left a big enough imprint on my subconscious to know that the plane flying above my grandparents house on September 14, 2001, was bad.
PRESENTATION
