Each generation is defined by a moment. It comes when one may least expect it but that moment will remain embedded in the memories of that generation for the rest of their lives.
Ask any man or woman over the age of 65 and they will tell you where they were when they heard the news of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Ask any adult that was alive during the "baby boom" generation and they can recall how they heard about the assassination of John F. Kennedy.
There was the Challenger disaster in 1986. Then came the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Those were some of the moments that defined the generations of the past. However, a new generation is upon us. A new moment in time has arrived. My generation is now the generation of Sept. 11.
Where were you when the awful news came⢠Were you watching as the planes crashed and the flames roared⢠Did you watch the towers tumble⢠Did you feel the awful moments pass you by and wonder where this historic day would leadâ¢
With each life-altering event that challenges an age group, a certain response comes forth from the people. These momentous events force a person to change everything from their thoughts or views of the world, to their future, to how they live their day-to-day life.
Although such infamous days affect everyone - no matter the creed, the race, the gender or the age of a person - how does something like Sept. 11 affect teenagers?
"I was in shock (when I found out)," says Ashley Risner, a student at South Fayette High School. "At first I was in denial, thinking this couldn't be happening. Then when I realized what it really was, I felt almost sick. Everyone was silent for a minute [when they found out], just stunned. Most people just sat and watched the TV."
Jamie Barry, another student at South Fayette, commented, "The first thing I thought of was my family. My aunt, uncle and two little cousins live in Virginia, just 15 minutes from the capital É the Pentagon."
Everyone reacts to tragic situations like Sept. 11 in many different ways. Everyone has to - because everyone is directly affected by such a tragic day in some way. And everyone responds. Some donate blood, some give money, some volunteer in any way they can. Some people just simply try to treat their neighbors better than they did the day before. Some simply learn how to trust.
"I prayed," continued Risner, "I know that God is in control of everything, and he knows everything that is going to happen. We don't understand why America was attacked, but it doesn't mean God is angry with us. It was hard for me, but I know I have to trust God."
"Things can just change in the blink of an eye and never be the same again," added Barry.
That's right - things won't ever be the same again. Sept. 11 is the moment my generation and I will always remember; just as the attacks on Pearl Harbor was my grandfather's moment.
I talked with several adults I know and asked them what their "moment in time" was.
I started with my grandfather, Homer Smith of Union Township, who is one of the few people that I am close to that remembers the historic Dec. 7, 1941 - the bombing of Pearl Harbor. 2,403 Americans died that day. Another 1,178 were wounded.
My grandfather was 20 years old at the time, and was riding in a car when he heard the news over the radio.
"I didn't like it," Smith responded, "because I never did believe in people killing each other; still don't."
However, this day that was filled with so much bloodshed is the also the day Americans woke up and reached out to fellow Americans.
"Instead of people looking out for themselves - they worked together - they were all out to win the war," Smith said. "The women worked in the factories and the men had to go off to war."
Pearl Harbor was the moment of the century for Smith. Sadly, many more moments were to come.
It was the day none of our parents will ever forget; that shocking instant that my parents' generation was defined by - that devastating moment when Camelot died.
"It was more or less like shock, like how could this happen when we had such security⢠It was just disbelief," said my aunt, Carol Shaffer on the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963.
Disbelief and shock are probably the only words one could come up with, after living through such a devastating day. However, how could one forget probably the most famous image of that day that has been burned into our minds⢠Everyone can still see the image of John F. Kennedy Jr. saluting his father as the casket passed on by.
And although the assassination of John F. Kennedy was such an overwhelming event, such a tender moment touched and inspired the entire nation. Although it was the fall of Camelot, America still had its pride. America would carry on, saluting the heroes of the past and embracing the new dawn of tomorrow.
For Tonya Stillwell, a resident of North Ridgeville, Ohio, said her moment was the Challenger disaster in 1986 when Christa McAuliffe and seven other astronauts were killed.
"I don't think it's lost its significance, but we've moved on just like we'll move on to the next disaster and the next." she said. "It was a sudden reminder of our fragility and vulnerability as a nation just like Sept. 11."
Barbara Green, my former middle school teacher at Hillcrest Christian Academy in Bethel Park, said her generation's most significant moment was the fall of communism in 1989.
"I remember watching television in February of 1989 as the Berlin Wall was taken down," she said. "It seemed surreal as the East embraced the West."
The moments that define a generation do not always have to be moments of disaster. Some people look at Woodstock as the moment of their generation.
John G. Piccolo thinks that, after Woodstock, "The old taboos of prejudice, hate, exclusion, status and position took a back seat to a revolution that began to make us all equal again. Though I did not care for the moral breakdown that occurred, the real freedom that many of us take for granted was born at that concert."
Moments have come and moments have passed. But these moments will never be forgotten. Years from now, Sept. 11 will still blaze in my memory as the moment of my generation.
Just because time passes and other moments come along, I know I will never forget the morning when it seemed that the sky was literally falling. But perhaps that's how the past generations have always felt, when their moment in time arrived.
The world did not end then - and the world will not end today. Tomorrow is another day. Although the towers fell - the nation did not. We are still the land of the free and the home of the brave, even after all of these moments of trial.
Kristen Woods, a student at Ringgold High School, said it best when she said, "I think we have come together as a nation in a movement that has inspired the entire world."
The flag is still there, flying high and proud, even after the events of Sept. 11. We have survived the moments of countless generations.
Kari Shaffer is a student at Ringgold High School.
