My daughter brought a book home from the school library in kindergarten. This was probably about 5 years after the attacks. So I sat with her on the couch reading this nice little story about a fire boat. It did all this work in the harbor of New York, and then it was getting old, so some people wanted to save it and turn it into a museum. They raised the money to fix it up and dock it there in NYC. So, I'm reading this book, and turn the page, and there's a
watercolor illustration of 2 jets flying straight towards the WTC.
It was so surreal and and out of the blue, it was like a punch in the stomach. I started getting all choked up, trying to read this story about a fire boat. And then the story talked about the 9/11 attack, and how this fire boat, which was a floating museum, worked all day ferrying people from Manhattan to New Jersey. And the crew and boat were a heroes. The End.
It was a really bizarre situation. To be cuddling with your kid on a couch, just reading a kid's book, and then be confronted with such a powerful memory out of the blue. It had a big impact on me, but my daughter was oblivious.
![watercolor illustration]("http://media40.wnyc.net/media/photologue/photos/cache/Fireboat_5__storyslide_image.jpg"){kind=link}