The day that changed my generation

The half-empty coffee cups,still standing next to their plates,tell of a morning like any other.And yet,that grey covering of dust that everything wears tells a different story:it tells of screams,tears,terror and blood.Now the restaurant in the World Trade Center will never again serve breakfast.And never again will all those people go there to eat or work.So many people whose faces we associate with life and liveliness are gone tonight.So many words remain unsaid,and so much happiness has been destroyed.In there places are tear-stained faces.

 

My generation has seen this.On Monday,a fight with my sister,a bad grade and homework seemed to be the biggest problem in the world,Tonight,so many across the country know that American'pain is at its worst ever.

 

We have read about World War II.But to most of us students,that's an event on a textbook page that would never happen today.

 

After all,this was a time of peace and wealth-the United States was powerful and successful.There would be no more wars,and we were lucky to live in such a time.

 

But when those planes hit;when firefighters with terror on their faces ran among the parts of the building that had fallen;when people screamed for their family members;when history was unfolding before our eyes,in full,clear color--then we knew the world had been changed.Knowing how many human beings turned to ashes in a second,and seeing some jump from the buildings,I know that my generation is growing up in a world where mankind can still be evil.

 

But seeing those heroes risk their lives among the castle-like ruins,and seeing the eager blood donors at the hospitals,my generation has learned that tears are allowed,that mankind can also be hopeful,and that the ghost of evil never defeats the spirit of good.